Fear Mongering and Marketing Strategy

[JohnBiltz]

A lot of bomb shelters got built in the 50s. Personally, I shoot 9mm for fun and bought an AR because that is what I carried in my glory days. ARs are fun to shoot. I thought so when they issued me one and still do. I've got more ammo stored than I ever did before. That is not because of some kind of end of the world fantasy. I'm getting too old to survive that any way and certainly too old and broken to walk out of Arizona. But there was this ammo shortage not too long ago and I like to shoot every week. The last time I was caught with about 400 rounds in the house. I fully expect another one if the current president is reelected. Not because of anything he does but the perception of what he might do. Sounds foolish but that was how the Civil War started. I think it will last about a year. It isn't hoarding if you plan to use it and when you got it it was not in short supply. It also is not going to get any cheaper.

 

[gunnutery]

I grew up in the late 1940's and 50's, and nobody ever heard of gun collections like they have now, outside of a museum. People owned a few guns for the fun of shooting or hunting, and that was it. The end of the world stuff didn't exist even though most people back then had lived through the great depression and a world war. That people made it through the most catastrophic economic downturn in this countries history without wholesale shooting in the streets says something.

There was shooting in the streets, just not ours. Most of Europe was a warzone at some point during WW2 and I'll bet the neutral countries weren't just sitting back and watching blissfully either. I'm glad that YOU didn't have such worries back then, I don't think my family was too worried about the future either back in the 40-60's.

My wife and I are both in our 30's. I enjoy history and she enjoys numbers. Between the two of us we look back at history and see that anything is possible for our country and we see that the financial practices of the federal government as reckless at best. We live in a rural area but we still prepare for power outages, bad storms, economic collapse without being paranoid or preachy. We don't bother our kids with such talk either. We don't foresee foreign invasion as a reason to think ahead but we do prepare for a whole host of other things that can happen during an dire time for the masses. We still spend our money on fun things and vacations etc.

But I don't care for being called paranoid and loony because just because I may have a leary outlook on our country's way of life and do a little preparing beforehand. When I shoot, I do so to keep up my skills to protect myself and my family and to have fun. I'm not imagining a commie soldier or zombie hoard as I shoot my targets. I am a balanced individual that likes to think ahead.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

Back in the 40's & 50's that you are referring to and even before, a lot of the survivalist thinking, and stockpiling your talking about wasn't considered extreme or strange. It was normal. Pretty much any rural adult knew how to survive without T.V. dinners and fast food etc. They owned guns and ammo, and stockpiled fruits and vegetables and smoked meats in a root cellar. They made there own wine, beer, and spirits, hunted game, gathered wild nuts and berries.... on and on and on. That wasn't weird, it was surviving and they did it every day.


By the way I wonder how crazy all this talk would have been if this thread could have been posted on April 12, 1861

 

[Ole Coot]

During the '50s ammo was available anywhere, I bought 22rds individually. Now this manufactured run on ammo a couple of years ago caught me short and also reloading supplies. I stocked up for my personal needs when the supply came back. I don't think this is hoarding, just don't want to run very low again.

 

[PapaG]

Back in the fifties and especially the sixties every state, county and city had a Civil Defense department...at the local level, mostly volunteers. They had stockpiles of food (really crappy survival crackers, canned water, etc), shelters in the basements of bank vaults, and homes, meetings about how to survive nuclear (we could pronounce it then) war, and even had drills. If you want to grow to dislike your neighbor, spend a volunteer weekend in a fallout shelter sharing the same can, eating those crackers and drinking the stale water. I figured that if the heads of state of the US and Russia were holed up in one of those for a week there'd never be another threat of war.
There were a lot of "collections" and they were never called "arsenals" until the anti-gunner got more bold, somewhere in the mid sixties. They gave us the gun control act of 68 and that ended our fun looking in the back pages of magazines to see what surplus rifle we'd order next for $9.95 and ammo for $5/100. Also some great import guns dried up for the same reason.
We had paranoia back then, it just wasn't as noticeable...no facebook, no internet, no Rush, no Youtube, and a lot slower information exchange.
Of course, I could get home from school, get my bike, my 39 Marlin, hold it across the handlebars and ride out to the dump and shoot rats with my Hiawatha shells I got for $3.99/500.

 

[leadcounsel]

You can believe it's foolish to be prepared if you want to...

A study of history shows civilizations that ignored the writing on the wall and bowed to rulers or situations which, hindsite being 20/20, were very bad ideas. Those that survived often had supplies, to include ammo and guns...

Large scale examples are the fall of civilizations (Romans to Russians and everything in between) to smaller more localized examples of Tsunamis, Hurricanes, and man made disasters like 9/11 and the LA Riots.

The equation is like this:
1. Identify problem(s) that could result in disaster. There are many many many... distrust in .gov (fraud, gun laws, corruption, etc.), examples of huge natural disasters, likely economic collapse, etc.
2. Prepare to survive it.

This relates to guns because guns are undeniably linked to survival of any urban upheaval.

 

[Unistat]

This thread is a SHTF thread and should be shut down.

If threads promoting the discussion of EOTWAWKI scenarios and preparedness are not allowed, neither should threads denigrating it. Discussion on one side will lead to folks on the other defending or attacking various positions.

This is akin to "tactical" vs. "fudd" arguments and does very little to promote firearms ownership or taking The High Road.

 

[blarby]

It is pretty close.

I'm sure the mods have quite the eyes on it.....tread carefully

It is intended as a thread to discuss marketing to firearms persons based on a certain marketing parameter.

That seems to be ok, to me at least....but I'm no mod. We aren't discussing the scenarios per-se, but its gettin close.

I like this thread.....tread carefully guys !

 

[blarby]

Personally, I believe that a lot of the marketing is allowing products to come to market that have been desired by some for a long time.

Just because people choose to purchase those products which you find disdainful, and use them in a fashion you do not approve of, does not make them bad products. With that step in mind, I do not believe that a vendor who brings a product to market based on demand for that product is a bad vendor.

I personally could never purchase a weapon and not use it.

We all have a few acquaintances that have weapons they don't use. Perhaps we should tell them to use them ! In the end, not our choice- theirs.

If someone buys so many tools that they can't afford nuts and bolts.....thats something a friend would bring up to a friend

I do not believe the marketing is driving the belief. I see the belief driving the marketing.

Thats a large part of marketing : Taking a product, and advertising it for sale in ways and to persons interested in it. Within your niche, setting yourself apart from your competitors is important, and yes sometimes reality gets a little gets stretched. Please show me any product that hasn't stretched reality or relied on alarmist statements when taken in context with their product type to drive sales. This months "gun magazine" I subscribe to has plenty of alarmist advertising from renowned vendors, none of it "planning ahead" related.

Very little marketing effort is directed at getting persons who aren't interested in a class of products to be interested in them.

I can't really formulate any more verbiage that doesn't ( from what I've encountered here) cross the line in discussing the scenarios themselves in support of my position, so this will have to suffice.

Sorry this blurb seems a little censored....it is. Sometimes you gotta fill in the blanks.

 

[Bobson]

By the way I wonder how crazy all this talk would have been if this thread could have been posted on April 12, 1861.

Thank you for this glimpse of logic.

Zombie scenarios exist for entertainment value only, and TEOTWAWKI makes for a decent movie occasionally. However, other threats do exist as real possibilities. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see combat on American soil in my lifetime. Heck, I know people who believe the Southern states will be home to most of the US Army and National Guard in the next five years, if current trends don't stop soon.

The end of the world? Certainly not. War? Since when is that overly imaginative?

 

[blarby]

I also think it worthy of noting that even in this depressed economy, common folks are able to obtain high-quality firearms and related products that still fit within the budget.

Many times over, in some instances. And we aren't taking princes here...blue collar average joes.

Back in the day, many homes couldn't afford even a simple rifle of questionable quality.

During the frontier days a rifle for harvesting game often exceeded many months' salary for the commoner, one of the key selling points of lever guns in .30 cal to homesteaders . ( if you can only afford one... get one that does it all)

 

[leadcounsel]

Gunnuttery said:

But I don't care for being called paranoid and loony because just because I may have a leary outlook on our country's way of life and do a little preparing beforehand. When I shoot, I do so to keep up my skills to protect myself and my family and to have fun. I'm not imagining a commie soldier or zombie hoard as I shoot my targets. I am a balanced individual that likes to think ahead.

I echo your thoughts, and find humor in the irony of your username!

 

[greenlion]

This thread is a SHTF thread and should be shut down.

If threads promoting the discussion of EOTWAWKI scenarios and preparedness are not allowed, neither should threads denigrating it. Discussion on one side will lead to folks on the other defending or attacking various positions.

It is pretty close.

I'm sure the mods have quite the eyes on it.....tread carefully

It is intended as a thread to discuss marketing to firearms persons based on a certain marketing parameter.

That seems to be ok, to me at least....but I'm no mod. We aren't discussing the scenarios per-se, but its gettin close.

I like this thread.....tread carefully guys !

The irony is killing me. Its a thread about fear mongering, and now we need to be paranoid about talking about not being paranoid, lest we get shut down. Amazing.....

 

[browneu]

This thread is a SHTF thread and should be shut down.

If threads promoting the discussion of EOTWAWKI scenarios and preparedness are not allowed, neither should threads denigrating it. Discussion on one side will lead to folks on the other defending or attacking various positions.

It is pretty close.

I'm sure the mods have quite the eyes on it.....tread carefully

It is intended as a thread to discuss marketing to firearms persons based on a certain marketing parameter.

That seems to be ok, to me at least....but I'm no mod. We aren't discussing the scenarios per-se, but its gettin close.

I like this thread.....tread carefully guys !

The irony is killing me. Its a thread about fear mongering, and now we need to be paranoid about talking about not being paranoid, lest we get shut down. Amazing.....

This is the reply of the century. Had me laughing.

History has taught us that the disarming of a society is the first step to government control.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Did anyone receive SPAM from CheaperThanDirt? I deleted it but it was something like "How to Survive December 21, 2012" I kinda chuckled at it, but I can see some folks taking it seriously. Oh well...

As for stockpiling ammo and guns, heck, all one needs is a dozen bricks of quality 22LR and a Ruger 10/22 to fend off the zombies!

 

[Archaic]

I think the real point of the OP was that we have all been pretty susceptible to the industry 'doom and gloom' marketing in recent years. In a way gun marketing is pretty much like golf clubs and fishing lures - they catch a lot more golfers and fishermen than they do birdies and fish.

The apocalypse spawned boom in 'black guns' is not much different than way that all of the uber-magnums get sold to guys that are never going to go to africa and shoot a cape buffalo. Given the choice between shooting a zombie with a .340 Weatherby or letting the zombie shoot me with it . . . it would be a tough choice.

 

[catnphx]

The SHTF folks are geniuses when S does HTF and they are lunatics when it doesn't. Personally, I think there is a middle ground.

- Water: About 8 years ago (+/- 1 year) in Phoenix, the entire metro area had what the local water company was calling "bacteria" in the water supply and we couldn't use the water for several days. Needless to say, there was a run on bottled water and we couldn't bath either. Those that had water stored in barrels were geniuses but not until we had an emergency. If it can happen in Phoenix it can happen in NY, LA, Seattle, Chicago, etc.... Lesson: Store some water and/or have some good water purifiers.


- Ammo: Many got caught short when the ammo shortage happened a couple of years back. Lesson: Buy a little extra ammo each month so that you have it when you need it. Dollar cost averaging is a good thing too.


- Food: Many people lost their jobs over the past few years and haven't been able to feed their familes. Lesson: Stock up on some food in good times just in case times go bad (and they almost always do).


I could continue with my examples but I won't. Extremes aren't healthy ... that includes those that prepare for TEOTWAWKI and those that prepare for nothing at all. Middle ground people ... learn from lessons that are in front of us and that are likely to happen (whatever they may be) and prepare for them. That includes 6-12 months of savings too.

 

[Archaic]

The SHTF folks are geniuses when S does HTF and they are lunatics when it doesn't. Personally, I think there is a middle ground.

- Ammo: Many got caught short when the ammo shortage happened a couple of years back. Lesson: Buy a little extra ammo each month so that you have it when you need it. Dollar cost averaging is a good thing too.

That's the point though, there was no 'shortage' of ammo. Just excessive buying by folks scared that their would be a shortage. Our fears became a self fulfilling prophecy and much profit was made while we bough .380 by the case.

 

[Earlsbud]

Economics

Guns and ammo are hard currency like precious metals. When there are no buyers for our bonds/debt it will take a pound of dollars to buy a pound of bread in short order. The zombies aren't going to eat you alive, the weak and sinking $ might though. In every historic scenario mentioned in this thread, the buyers who bought into the fear, who still have those guns, have made a nice profit.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Even Rome was utterly destroyed. It can happen to us.

 

[Vector]

Paranoia and survival sales is one thing. However the OP dismisses the NRA's attempt to make everyone aware of the constant vigil it takes to keep the gun grabbers from affecting our 2nd Amendment rights. Lets not forget how bad things are in certain areas of the country.
More importantly, look at the 5-4 SCOTUS vote on our gun rights. All it will take is Obama being reelected for it to change from 5-4 in our favor, to 5-4 or even 6-3 in the anti-gunners favor.

So while the undead walking the earth should not be of concern, the brain dead wanting to seize our guns is always something we must be prepared for.

 

[Snowdog]

Call it fear-mongering or call it capitalism... either way, folks have the freedom to chose how to respond to it and for that I'm am grateful.

Most of what see, read and hear is tongue-in-cheek. It just means Americans still have a pulse and sense of humor.

 

[Ignition Override]

The OP's description is excellent. I have yet to read of a self-defense situation in the US which involves any personal contact from more than about twenty feet, except in very few cases.

Sam 1911:
If some guys have an AK, AR, etc which is not used at the range, then the friend should never have bought it, and should sell it. The previous owner is always the winner with people like that. Next November's election "possibilities" might inspire others to spread anxiety, and make money.
They will convince many thousands of people that a future presidential Executive Order can become law, Without First going through Congress.

My SKS with the new Tech Sight makes it much easier to repeatedly hit a small plastic bottle at 30-50 yards, and this is resting only the front on a fallen tree. Who says that these can't be used at a range? And the centerfire ammo is only about .20/round.

 

[CajunBass]

It ain't nothing new. Just in my lifetime people dug bomb shelters in the 60's and Mel Tappan and the survivalist movememt came along in the 70-80's.

Now they've got the internet to spread the word. Back then it was magazines and bookx.

Same song...different verse.

 

[Wildbillz]

We have been fooled into spending thousands of dollars to purchase guns for imagined realities that do not exist, at the expense of enjoying the guns we could be shooting today.

Ineresting that you should say that. Years ago I read this artical and it made a lot of sence to me. It says about the same thing and more.

http://www.survivalplus.com/defense/page0001.htm

The auther is Kurt Saxon who clames to have been the first to coin the term Survivalist.

As for not recalling the survival movement from the 80s? I recall a lot of survivalist mags and info in that time.

Survival Guide magazine
Survival (from the publisher of SOF)
American Survival Guide (Renaming of the first one)
Guns and Survival (once again from SOF if I recall corectly)
Guns and Ammo had a monthly Survival colum done by Mel Tappen

Books?
Alas Baybalon writen in 1951 I think
Lucifers Hammer (don't know the date on the rest of these)
The survivalist series
Out of the Ashes
and others.

Survivalist have been around a lot longer then many of us want to think. They have gone through a lot of differant changes and been asorbed by many differant groups. Anyone recall there being a big upsurge in Citizens Malitia's back in the 90s I think?

Just some random thoughts on it.
WB