Discouraging the "Zombie" market

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brigadier

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I'm putting this here for purpose of getting this message out.

Before I get started, I want to make it clear that this is not a "moral" or "rights" argument. This is to encourage a "lock your door when you leave your house" policy. Meaning, this has nothing to do with rights and responsibilities and everything to do with exposing one's self to unwanted trouble from the bad guys.

The issue is that it seams as though the firearm industry is trying to market on this recent "zombie" media craze in rather disturbing ways. Namely Horniday's zombie ammo marketing but other stuff as well.

The gun grabbers may be on the defensive now but they're not defeated and they WILL hit back hard if you leave them a good opening.

It's only a matter of time before some nutcase takes this zombie killing fad to the extreme and mows a few people down. And when that happens, the first thing the gun grabbers are going to do is look for any way they can lay the blame on the firearm industry and with all this real ordnance marketed as zombie killers and whatnot is going to amplify any success or chance of success they can get out of it.

Anyway, this is no attack on the industry. I have a gun called "zombie killer" myself and really like it. It's not about that at all. This is just an alert to the arms industry. In a truly free country and free market this should not be an issue. Unfortunately, we live in a time when we need to watch our backs when it comes to things like this and using the zombie fad to market real ordnance doesn't seam like a very wise choice under the present circumstances.
 
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Actually, the OP isn't very far wrong.

All it's gonna take in ONE nutcase with a hi-cap EBR getting tweaked out and mowing down a few shoppers at the mall, then telling the cops, "They were zombies and they were comin' after me."

ZOMBIES: The joy of shooting humans without the sin of taking human life (hey, they're already DEAD, aren't they?), not to mention all those nasty legal complications.

Something very wrong with this whole Zombie thing...

My tuppence,

ed
 
I think the OP has a point, there is a line that should not be crossed when marketing guns and ammo. Anything that trivializes the seriousness of a firearm should be carefully done, the same should be said about anything that blurs the line between a toy and a gun, it is bad enough to make toys look like real guns, lets not make guns look like toys.
 
I love it! All this Zombie craze stuff.

I took a lady to the range last weekend, her first time handling a gun. After some information was passed to her and her first shooting a 22 pistol, I bumped her up to my LCP 380 Zombie slayer. She thought it was great, and she's 50 something years old. She said she told her 30 something year old son that she shot a gun that said Zombie Slayer on it, she said her son says 'Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!'

It's all in good fun, IMO, and anyone with their head right on their shoulders can deal with it accordingly. I see no difference in someone freaking out and having a shooting spree claiming people are Zombies as opposed to someone just freaking out and shooting people at random. Those poeple are just not right in the head to begin with.
 
I'm not sure I understand why a zombie-obsessed nut killing people in a mall or a school is gonna make us look worse than a plain ol' nut shooting up a school or a mall.


Maybe a better story for the media???


I dunno seems to me nuts killing innocent people with a gun is always gonna make us look bad, regardless of the slant the media puts on the story.
 
We have our zombies, they have their hello kitty's.
Jimminy, you could blame Nintendo and or some shoes.. which they do.
I'd calm down a bit.
 
Placating the anti's has absolutely no point. If it can be argued that an insane individual is representative of all firearm owners, then it can be argued that an insane individual is representative of ANY group.

To acknowledge the OP's point is to give power to an argument that when viewed rationally is absolutely ridiculous. My 3yr old daughter can watch a cartoon and distinguish that it is not real. To give credibility to a sick individual that shoots up innocent people at a mall, using the excuse of being unfairly influenced by marketing is exactly the thinking of an anti.

The bottom line is that every individual in this country is responsible for their OWN actions. The media and clever lawyers will play. We are to stay the course regardless.
 
Anti gun activists are going to try to demonize us no matter what.

Therefore there is no reason for us to waste time and effort walking on eggshells because we're worried that they might say something mean.

If it wasn't zombies, they'd just pick something else to get offended by.


Though, for what its worth, a certain anti-rights blogger recently discovered the zombie thing and tried to use it as a way to criticize gun owners.

Being both culturally ignorant of guns as well as the current zombie fad, she managed to make herself look all manner of stupid without anyone on our side even lifting a finger.


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Being both culturally ignorant of guns as well as the current zombie fad, she managed to make herself look all manner of stupid without anyone on our side even lifting a finger.
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That's a positive of this. The zombie craze in the media isn't right or left wing. Its not something that splits people down the same lines as gun politics often do. Zombies (movies, stories, memorabilia, etc) are popular right now. If you try to attack guns for associating with zombie culture then you'll have a whole lot of people - even non-shooters - scratching their heads going "Huh? . . . ".

Besides - the old "its just an easier way to kill without the guilt" thing is hogwash. People shoot zombie targets. People shoot robber or terrorist targets. People shoot featureless silhouettes. I hate to break it to you, but NONE of those are any more or less alive than the next. They're all TARGETS. Even the zombie craze isn't about mowing down people without sin. It's about the face that zombies are freakishly scary. There's the visual aspect, but there's also the setting of a world where you make your own destiny yet are continuosly hunted by an enemy that has no ulterior motives. It JUST wants to kill you.

It was part of the same thing that made the Terminator such a scary villan. As Kyle Reese said of it:

Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.
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I for one think it is genius. One thing that anti-gun people constantly argue is that there is no reason to own any guns in a peaceful society. Well, zombie preparation totally kills that argument.
 
I think the OP has a point, there is a line that should not be crossed when marketing guns and ammo. Anything that trivializes the seriousness of a firearm should be carefully done, the same should be said about anything that blurs the line between a toy and a gun, it is bad enough to make toys look like real guns, lets not make guns look like toys.
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That's pretty close to the point. And to the others, yes, any RATIONAL person won't have any trouble discerning the difference between zombies in fiction and reality. The problem is not everyone in possession of a firearm is rational. That isn't to say that the firearm industry is responsible for bad behavior, only that they are leaving themselves open for unwelcome trouble.

That isn't to say that there isn't SOME room in the arms industry for playing with the zombie fad, just that they need to be far more careful.

Zombie targets for instance make sense. This on the other hand is an invitation for a lawsuit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQWb-5nblx4

There have already been some real cases of people getting assaulted upon being mistaken for zombies. It's only a matter of time before someone adds a gun in to the mix.
 
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I think the firearms companies are having fun with it and probably making some good profits. If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you like it, buy it. Doesn't make a difference to me. Plus, it says that this is not a toy on the box of the Hornady Zombie max ammo. If you can't read, then you shouldn't be shooting a firearm.
 
The only problem I have with it is I have only been able to find the Zombie Max ammo instock for my 380, 40 and 223. I am still in need of some in the 9mm and 12 gauge 00!
 
Still trying to figure out how this thread ended up unlocked...

Anywho.

Zombie rounds : NEED IT, LOVE IT, WANT MORE OF IT !

I wanna see hornady bullet commercials all over the walking dead series.

I wanna see ZMAX extra sugar breakfast cereal.

I wanna see little timmy's zombie gummi bears pouch in his lunchbox, with a 50 cent coupon for ZMAX 22lr on the side. Shotgun shell red looks good in fruity shapes and colors, don'tcha think ?

If I bought a box of cracker jacks, and it had a hornady logo temporary tattoo in it, I'd slap that sucker on my forehead.

WHY ?

GUN PR. Thats why.

There are so many people completely ignorant of guns and their trappings, that every time the anti's saber-rattle...they get all mushy and scared.

Anything that we as a consuming section of the public do that makes firearm use more acceptable and mainstream is positive.

Anything that draws intelligent people into conversation about the "realities" of our 2nd Amendment "hobbies" ( for lack of a better catch all) is overwhelmingly positive.

The younger you can draw folks in to a positive experience with a product, the more likely they are to stay users ( and defenders ) of that product throughout their lives...if not specifically loyal to your brand.

Any product-related danger in ZMAX bullets misuse would very easily by lawyered away first thing in two ways : 1. Look at the warnings on the zombie ammo box....its even more restrictive than their standard warning verbiage. 2. Its an AMAX with a different color, thats all. They did not do any different construction or engineering for ZMAX...just a different color, and different wrappings..... these two things may not matter or make sense to you....but it makes sense in a TORT.

I can imagine a bo-jillion product tie ins for this.... I hope they use every single one.


One last note on a lil hypocrisy :

Anyway, this is no attack on the industry. I have a gun called "zombie killer" myself and really like it.
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Holy tap dancing c.......


Anyways,


So, whats the plan of action here ? No zombie bullets ?

That didn't work real good for those evil hollowpoints....

or those bone-crushin anti-bear sabot slugs... You know, the ones that cut cars in half ?

It only worked even a lil bit on 'Talons... AND THEY STILL MAKE THE DARN THINGS. The only thing that killed the PR on 'Talons was public misinformation.... Again, they are still available ...they just aren't called BLACK "SURGEON HAND CUTTING OFF" TALONS.

Difference here, is that we're waaaaaaay ahead of the ball this time....not far behind it.
 
I see no difference in someone freaking out and having a shooting spree claiming people are Zombies as opposed to someone just freaking out and shooting people at random. Those poeple are just not right in the head to begin with.
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The difference is that when some nutcase DOES go and mow people down and claims he was defending himself from zombies, and the gun grabbers expose all the guns sold as "Zombie Killers" and Hornaday's Zombie ammo, it's going to create a PR nightmare for the arms industry as well as some potential lawsuits.

I think the firearms companies are having fun with it and probably making some good profits. If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you like it, buy it. Doesn't make a difference to me. Plus, it says that this is not a toy on the box of the Hornady Zombie max ammo. If you can't read, then you shouldn't be shooting a firearm.
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You seam to be having the misunderstanding I've made a strong effort to prevent. I have nothing morally against the arms industry and their zombie fad. I HAVE and Addax Tactical Zombie Killer and greatly respect the people who made it. I also keep Hornaday TAP ammo in it. I have nothing against these people morally. Quite the opposite. The aim of this thread is the same as you telling your kids to look both ways before crossing the street or locking your door before leaving home. Encouraging the gun industry to tread carefully with the zombie fad is for their own benefit.
 
I seem to remember a similar thread on here about pro gun (but tasteless/controversial) T shirts. I see both sides of the argument. Unfortunately, someone always has to take it to the extreme.

I guess in the end the market will decide. I won't be spending any of my money on Zombie marketed items.
 
OP, I think you're looking way too far into this. Hornady made a marketing run and I applaud them for doing so. I bought a box of 7.62x39 to set on my bench as a novelty and I imagine others did as well. I have yet to see any 'zombie' merch that was worth anything that didn't either look stupid or had no purpose.
I would honestly laugh anyone away that showed up with 'zombied' out gear, but at the same time, we have to think of it from the other end of things, it's inviting more people into our sport and community to become pro 2A members.

Everyone has their niche', and while some people may like something we deem silly, I think we should let it ride. I seriously doubt people are going to start shooting people with 'zombie gear' and bring negative publicity that they wouldn't do without 'zombie gear'.
 
I seriously doubt people are going to start shooting people with 'zombie gear' and bring negative publicity that they wouldn't do without 'zombie gear'
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Again, you are absolutely right here. The problem is that when someone DOES attach the "zombie" theme to a real life murder, the zombie gun and ammo market is going to get hit hard. And they don't even have to use any ordnance marketed as "zombie" ordnance. All they have to do is say they though they were defending themselves from zombies and the arms industry will get hit. And it sounds like the gun grabbers are already aware and waiting for that very opportunity to present it's self. One of 2 things is going to happen sooner or later. Either the gun industry is going to move on to other advertising or they WILL get hit hard by the gun grabbers over it. Some crazy mowing people down and calling it a zombie attack is not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Melee wise, it's already happened.
 
It's only a matter of time before some nutcase takes this zombie killing fad to the extreme and mows a few people down. And when that happens, the first thing the gun grabbers are going to do is look for any way they can lay the blame on the firearm industry and with all this real ordnance marketed as zombie killers and whatnot is going to amplify any success or chance of success they can get out of it.
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I had tried to explain that concept months ago and was quickly silenced. Glad people are finally seeing the point. That said, I see nothing wrong with zombie-related firearms, accesories, or ammo. It really depends on the person.
 
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