This is probably one of the worst I’ve seen. Did they hire the Mario Cuomo advertising agency for that one? You remember Mario’s famous quote right?
“Hunters who drink beer, don’t vote and lie to their wives about where they were all weekend.”
20 thoughts on “Bad Ads for Gun Ranges”
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Tasteless, yes. Bad, I wouldn’t go that far.
Gun owners are just like everyone else, warts and all. Not every depiction of us will be beautiful. Like the smiling model in the picture.
Rgds,
DB49
Yeah, but advertisers usually don’t use “warts and all” to try to sell products. This certainly doesn’t make me think too favorably of whatever’s being sold.
I think that’s hillarious. And while its not going to go over well with the local baptist minister, junior league set, or yankee transplants (roaches are what my inlaws call ’em, cause they just donakt go away), the redneck set will love it (and see the humor in it).
Sort of reminds me of that old georgia satellites song.
Sebastian,
Guess you haven’t seen the hundreds of sites advertising services or hall rentals supporting bachelor parties. I won’t give any of them free advertising by posting links, but there are a ton. Some are rather more tasteless than your example.
I don’t think I would be tempted to go to a paintball bachelor party (paintball with strippers is not my idea of fun), but I know lotsa guys who would. It is a harmless diversion. Why shouldn’t a range reach out to these people?
Rgds,
DB49
There’s nothing wrong with reaching out to people to show shooting and/or paintball as potential party activities. But this ad screams sexism. A knocked up chick in lingerie? Come on. There are ways to make shooting sexy without going this far.
I actually researched Open Range to see about specials in case Bash attendees wanted to do some shooting last year. Unfortunately everyone that Countertop listed (with the exception of the ministers) are who they are trying to reach. Based on what I found out about them, they weren’t aiming for the redneck bunch.
I think we have different definitions of bad… After all, I had never heard about the place or thought of going shooting if I’m ever passing through the area before you posted this link. Now, I know there’s a range there, and might remember it if I’m in the area.
Stupid ad? Yes. Tasteless? Yes. Lacking a good point? Yes. Hard to understand? Yes. But bad? No, it accomplished its purpose, it got attention.
It got attention and it made a lot of folks feel really good about themselves…
Those that weren’t in any way connected to the PG woman… LMAO…
Oh, for pete’s sake, what what it Mencken said about those people haunted by the sneaking fear that someone, somewhere was having fun?
The image of the pregnant bride is well-established cultural shorthand for needing to have the marriage ASAP. Yeah, they’ve got her posed wearing Not Much, which (among other things) sets the tone that this is not an ad for an adoption agency or a Home For Troubled Girls.
It’s a bit of a silly ad but it is probably effective. I rather doubt there’s an open bar; for the stereotypical bachelor/ette party, the range or paintball would be more of a starting point.
Or, heck, they could all get dressed up in their Sunday best and go sip tea while listening to inspirational talks on uplifting topics or obscure operas; it’s a big world and there are all sorts of ways to party.
Wouldn’t want to attract anybody young, hip, or under the age of thirty to the sport, would we?
Given that this is a range that gives out Starbucks cards as a promo tool, I can say this is not the kind of ad that would appeal to their target demo. I say this as someone who has actually looked at the rest of their marketing plans, talked to the people there, and spent time in the sections of Louisville they are trying to appeal to. They also told me they try to attract more women to the sport.
I don’t think it’s a matter of trying to stop people of having fun or not attracting people under 30. It’s a matter of who they are trying to reach (or were last year when I talked to them and actually researched them) and how this doesn’t quite fit so well with it.
Tasteless, possibly sexist … many negative terms apply.
Sadly, it made me laugh. And want to go there.
But I’m not proud of that … ;-)
Yeah, I think this ad is pretty tongue in cheek funny. It’ll go over well – and seems to fit in with the whole hipster theme of their web page.
Did you know its sponsored by a NSSF grant?? Wow
Of course, the ad isn’t going to help much, not when they charge $25 for an hour on the shooting lane. Ouch!!!
That’s some $$pricey$$ shooting.
You seem to be holding a minority opinion even in the comments section here, Bitter. Most people seem to be finding it funny, in an irreverent, self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek way.
Having spent some years trying to promote an irreverent, hip image for an indoor range in a southern college town myself, I think the ad hit the mark nicely. (Although I’m still personally proud of “Automatics For The People”…)
And oddly enough, I seem to be the only one here who falls into the demographics they are aiming for…
*shrug* The reason I didn’t like it is I felt like it perpetuated negative stereotypes about gun owners. I don’t find it patently offensive or wrong, really, and I can see the humor in it.
Negative stereotypes?
Like what? That a gun person might go to a range for a bachelor/ette party?
That they might go play paintball for a bachelor/ette party?
Is the negative stereotype that a pregnant lady in a wedding veil implies a not-proper relationship that includes pre-martial sex and they are only getting married because the bride to be is pregnant?
That’s not a negative stereotype. In fact, it’s very much a large part of reality.
I don’t see a thing that says anything about rednecks.
I do see a lot of folks whining about image at the link, and in the above comments.
Folks, if yall are narcissistic enough that you care about the image your believe this advertisement portrays concerning your chosen soap box, you might want to reevaluate your reasons for climbing the soap box, be it your state image, or gun rights, or red necks, or marriage.
More like we’re the types who are going to knock up our girlfriends.
Folks, if yall are narcissistic enough that you care about the image your believe this advertisement portrays concerning your chosen soap box, you might want to reevaluate your reasons for climbing the soap box, be it your state image, or gun rights, or red necks, or marriage.
I said I didn’t like to ad. A lot of people disagree. To each his own. There’s no narcissism involved in it. In the big scheme of things, I really don’t give a rats ass if a range wants to run an ad like this.
Out-of-state gun lobbyists? Kind of a narrow target audience. But, hey, if that’s who they told you they were aiming for… ;)
Srsly, though, I’ve found that when I went looking to get offended, I was always successful in my quest. Since I stopped trying, my blood pressure has dropped to a much healthier level.