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Gun store criticized for "Back to School" advertisement -- "Shoot Now, Pay Later"

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Valley gun store criticized for “back to school” wording in promotion

"The title of the program is called ‘Shoot now, pay later,'" said Smith, explaining the "no interest for nine months" program he was promoting.

Underneath the words "shoot now, pay later," Smith wrote: “Now that the kids are back in school, it’s a perfect time to take advantage of some great specials that we have priced to be the lowest available in the country.”

Some customers were not happy with the promoted deal.

“How that could be missed is shocking...it’s shocking,” said Marty Ryan, a customer from New Mexico who read the newsletter Monday morning when he got into work.

“I cannot believe these guys put this together as a promotion. Especially when they use the phrase, 'now that the kids are back in school, let’s have an assault rifle sale,'” said Ryan.

The store is called Tombstone Tactical.

The store owner apologized and said he wasn't encouraging violence.

Ryan emailed the store, and Smith said he personally replied explaining the confusion and offering apologies.

“There is no way we would ever encourage violence at all,” said Smith.

The small business owner says he is confident most customers did not misinterpret the promotion.

“The idea of the email was to highlight, we just spent a bunch of money on our kids - now it’s time to spend a little bit of money on ourselves,” said Smith. “I would apologize to anyone who took offense to that. We sent that email out to well over 200,000 people and I only received three negative responses to that email.”

Actually, it was the phrase "shoot now, pay later" which struck me even more.

I think it's a manifestation of the wide chasm of opinion on this issue.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Valley gun store criticized for “back to school” wording in promotion



The store is called Tombstone Tactical.

The store owner apologized and said he wasn't encouraging violence.



Actually, it was the phrase "shoot now, pay later" which struck me even more.

I think it's a manifestation of the wide chasm of opinion on this issue.
That's definitely not PC.
But back in my high school, starting up again in September
meant new rounds of practice & competition for our rifle team.
Gun fearful people don't understand that there are other perspectives.

We were the least violent of all sports teams.
No chasing, hitting, grappling or injuries.
 

Epic Beard Man

Bearded Philosopher
Valley gun store criticized for “back to school” wording in promotion



The store is called Tombstone Tactical.

The store owner apologized and said he wasn't encouraging violence.



Actually, it was the phrase "shoot now, pay later" which struck me even more.

I think it's a manifestation of the wide chasm of opinion on this issue.

Really done in poor taste. Regardless of the intent, some people need to think about their catch phrases before they decide to make it public.
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
That's definitely not PC.
But back in my high school, starting up again in September
meant new rounds of practice & competition for our rifle team.
Gun fearful people don't understand that there are other perspectives.

We were the least violent of all sports teams.
No chasing, hitting, grappling or injuries.

What? They didn't have full contact skeet shooting in your school?
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Since the point to advertising is getting attention, I'd say it worked.

You're now advertising for Tombstone Tactical on RF. Brilliant marketing on their part.
Tom

Well, I didn't really mean to do that. I just thought there was some irony to it.
 

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
Really done in poor taste. Regardless of the intent, some people need to think about their catch phrases before they decide to make it public.
I agree with you.
But Tombstone Tactical already knew that you and I weren't potential customers. They had no reason to care about our opinions.

Doubtless the people who they consider prospective customers have different views. The advertising industry is hardly a benchmark for good taste.
Tom
 

Audie

Veteran Member
Valley gun store criticized for “back to school” wording in promotion



The store is called Tombstone Tactical.

The store owner apologized and said he wasn't encouraging violence.



Actually, it was the phrase "shoot now, pay later" which struck me even more.

I think it's a manifestation of the wide chasm of opinion on this issue.

I think that we have a manifestation of how everyone
is so freaking touchy and sensitive, trying to turn
everything said into something it is not intended to be.

See "infested" as now being a racist term.

Honestly, people in America!
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
... until it comes time to renew their lease.
What does their advertising have to do with it?

If they pay their rent reliably I doubt that their landlord will trade them for a women-owned competitor to Starbucks, no matter how politically correct that might be.
Tom
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
What does their advertising have to do with it?

If they pay their rent reliably I doubt that their landlord will trade them for a women-owned competitor to Starbucks, no matter how politically correct that might be.
Tom
What I was getting at is that any business needs to rely on public goodwill occasionally.

If their presence drives other tenants away from the big box plaza where they're located, this will become an issue for their landlord when it's time to renew their lease.

If they apply for a rezoning, it'll go a lot smoother if they don't have protestors showing up at the public meeting.

Even in the firearm community, it could cause issues. What if they want a booth at a gun show, but the organizers are worried that allowing the people who did a "back to school" gun sale will reflect badly on the show overall?

"I have my customer base; screw everyone else" doesn't work as a strategy indefinitely.
 

Saint Frankenstein

Wanderer From Afar
Premium Member
Lot's of people with no common sense and mental illnesses in America.
This has nothing to do with mental illness and I'm sick of that phrase being thrown around. It just serves to demonize people with mental illness. This was just some idiot who wasn't thinking clearly.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
Valley gun store criticized for “back to school” wording in promotion



The store is called Tombstone Tactical.

The store owner apologized and said he wasn't encouraging violence.



Actually, it was the phrase "shoot now, pay later" which struck me even more.

I think it's a manifestation of the wide chasm of opinion on this issue.

Having a different mind set, I'd think nothing of it. However the media has created a mind set in a vast number of people that this phrase will always be associated with something sinister.

Appealing to the "right" audience requires that one takes this alternate mind set into consideration.
 

Curious George

Veteran Member
Valley gun store criticized for “back to school” wording in promotion



The store is called Tombstone Tactical.

The store owner apologized and said he wasn't encouraging violence.



Actually, it was the phrase "shoot now, pay later" which struck me even more.

I think it's a manifestation of the wide chasm of opinion on this issue.
I wouldn't have read that into it, had it not been pointed out.

Shoot now pay later would seem, to me, to encourage people to buy guns that they can go shoot for recreation or hunting and worry about the bills later. Back to school sale would imply that they were having a sale for people during the back to school shopping season (with the target audience being kids or parents).

I can see how the advertising is problematic, and it appears that the owner does also. Though again, I wouldn't have given a second look had someone not made a fuss.
 

Epic Beard Man

Bearded Philosopher
I agree with you.
But Tombstone Tactical already knew that you and I weren't potential customers. They had no reason to care about our opinions.

Doubtless the people who they consider prospective customers have different views. The advertising industry is hardly a benchmark for good taste.
Tom

I can't BELIEVE WE AGREE
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Honestly, I don't see the big problem. I got what the store-owner was going for, right out of the gate, and wouldn't have connected the use of language to school shootings. I expected something much, much worse with the extent to which the people in quote from the article were apparently "appalled" by it.

And wouldn't it be ironic if even one of these perpetrators of mass-shootings had cited as part of their beef with people/America/politics that people take this "political correctness" stuff too far. It is over-reactions like this that have me wondering if they don't hurt things more than they "help." Though I honestly don't know what "help" could possibly be done by advertising using some other set of commonplace words and phrases, or just taking this advertising down in general.

Does anyone seriously think that someone who was "on the fence" about committing a mass-shooting would be pushed over the edge by reading this advertising? And if not, then what the hell is/was anyone worried about?
 
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