Is Elon Musk associated with a device that claims to cut "your heating bill to basically $0"? No, that's not true: There's no evidence the SpaceX founder has any connection to the heating unit being peddled on the internet. A picture of Musk holding the device in an online article about the product appears to be created using photo editing.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook by Gadget Lab on December 13, 2023, under the title "I WILL GIVE YOU ONE FREE. Free for the first 20 people who purchase this product!" The post's caption said:
Elon Musk Reveals the Secret to Heating Your Home This Fall And Winter... All While Cutting Your Heating Bill to Basically $0.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of the writing of this fact check:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Fri Dec 15 17:30:01 2023 UTC)
Clicking the link in the Facebook post takes you to a website called Incredible Stories (archived here), which looks like a news article but isn't: The headline on the site's page repeats the caption found in the social media post. You can see it below:
(Source: Incredible Stories screenshot taken on Fri Dec 15 19:11:45 2023 UTC)
Not the news
Even though the top of the web page says, "NEWS Just in," it is not a news website. It intends to sell a product; in this case, a Cosmo Heater. The bottom of the page includes this disclaimer:
THIS IS AN ADVERTORIAL AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE, BLOG, OR CONSUMER PROTECTION UPDATE *We are dedicated to bringing readers valuable information which can help them accomplish their financial and lifestyle goals. Our disclaimer is that this site does receive compensation for product reviews and referrals or purchases made through our links. This page is an advertisement/advertorial. The story depicted here is for demonstration purposes only and everyone's results may vary. We hope you find our online resource informative and helpful. This site is in no way affiliated with any news source. This site contains affiliate and partner links. This website and the company that owns it is not responsible for any typographical or photographic errors. If you do not agree to our terms and policies, then please leave this site immediately. All trademarks, logos, and service marks (collectively the 'Trademarks') displayed are registered and/or unregistered Trademarks of their respective owners. Contents of this website are copyrighted property of the reviewer and/or this website.
Altered photo
Additionally, the picture of Musk holding the heating device at the top of the article (red box below left) appears to be created via photo editing. Lead Stories found the original image by doing a reverse image search using Google Lens (archived here). The result was a December 14, 2021, article on the France 24 website (archived here). It's an Associated Press photo (blue box below right) from November 2021. Here are the two images side by side:
(Source: Incredible Stories and France 24 screenshots taken on Fri Dec 15 2023 UTC)
Google searches
A Google News search (archived here) on December 15, 2023, using the terms "Elon Musk" and "Cosmo Heater," found no results matching the claims in the Facebook post or Incredible Stories article and nothing officially linking Musk to the product.
A regular Google search (archived here) also found no results matching the claims but did provide a long list of articles warning against falling for the Musk heater scam. A screenshot of part of the Google search appears below:
(Source: Google search screenshot taken on Fri Dec 15 21:39:02 2023 UTC)
Elon Musk
Lead Stories contacted Musk for a response through his companies SpaceX and Tesla but had not received an answer by the time this fact check was published. If one is received, it will be added.
Read more
Additional Lead Stories fact checks debunking claims about Elon Musk can be found here.
