Miss Demeanors
New member
I found a board that has some MMM moms posting, and am trying to educate at least one of them. This thread was just posted and I thought it was pretty funny. Who is more scared of the guns here the mom or the kid?This following letter addresses a
marketing strategy I have
seen to sell guns and weapons. Perhaps
readers of this website would be
interested in this particular store's practice,
but also the general
marketing strategy of gun manufacturers.
Thank you for your consideration.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Editor:
My seven year old son and I went to Walmart
to pick up patches for his
jeans. We turned up the large aisle between
the toy rows and small
appliance rows on our way to the fabric
section. We walked past toys,
barbies, hotwheels, playdough, basket balls,
tennis balls, soccer balls,
hunting knives and guns. According to an
assistant manager there, all
Walmart stores are conforming to a corporate
layout standard requiring
weapons and firearms to be sold immediately
adjacent to the toy and team
sports section. I have always known that
Walmart sold guns, however, the
small section was on a back wall by the auto
department, with the weaponry
in a cabinet behind the sales associate. It
was inconspicuously placed and
barely noticeable even if you walked by.
However, the new location and
display of weapons and firearms is
extraordinarily prominent, and located
next to the toy section. It is similar in
appearance to jewelry counters,
with big windows displaying large shining
hunting knives and guns. It is a
glittering and glamorous display, and one that
is unavoidable to the eye.
That children often cannot make the
distinction between toys and weapons is
well known. In this country, shootings are
now the fourth leading cause of
unintentional death for children, and for every
child killed, four more are
wounded. Although I myself believe in a strict
restriction of the access
and purchase of guns, I understand that the
right to bear arms in this
country is safeguarded by many. That issue is
another discussion. The
issue here is the responsibility by corporate
entities like Walmart, a
"family" store, to consider the lack of
distinction children will
inevitably have between toys and real
weaponry when designing store
layouts. This lack of distinction often leads to
tragedy, and can only be
perpetuated by a store layout and prominent
display such as Walmart's.
While I am sure that several marketing
wizards discussed the store layout
to determine the best location for weaponry
sales, I have to question the
goal behind placement next to a toy section. I
can only conclude that
Walmart executives desire children's
association of toys and guns to
continue. Perhaps the child who saw the
glitzy weapons display will become
the adult who buys a weapon from Walmart. I
am more inclined to believe
that this is the child who will find a gun in his
or her home or the home
of a friend and become another statistic of
accidental gun death.
Solutions are obvious. The best, of course, is
to simply stop selling
weapons. Walmart commercials boast about
being a "family" store. As a
family store, they don't sell pornography or
adult magazines. In other
words, they don't sell sex. Instead, Walmart
sells violence. An excuse
could be made that these weapons are
designed for hunting, but in my area
of the country there is no hunting. The
weapons would only be used in a
violent or criminal manner.
A second solution would be partitioning. If
Walmart did indeed sell sex
(i.e. adult magazines), these items would be
partitioned from the rest of
the store in an adult only section. Anyone
going in would know that this
was an area of the store with restrictions for
entry. Children would not
be allowed to enter. Walmart could partition
the weapons section in a
similar manner: Adult eyes only. Children
cannot purchase guns anyway.
Why market to them unless your goal is to
market to kids in the same way
cigarette companies do?
The placement and glittering prominence of
the weaponry display at Walmart
is irresponsible. I have informed Walmart's
corporate office
(1-800-WALMART) of my opinion and that I will
no longer patronize any of
their stores. My shopping will take place at a
store with real family
values, one that shows responsibility in its
marketing practices, one that
doesn't try to sell violence to my child by
propagating the lack of
distinction between toys and weapons.
Sandra Brierley
Poway, CA
*******************************************
One question I asked her "Would you rather have your son see the guns with you around or would rather him see a gun at a friends house and look at it over there, where no adults are present?" This lady scares me, its kids like hers that are going to be the next Columbine kids. Oh and her strategy of just not selling guns all together is oh so brilliant.......
My theory is this IS a family store, what better place to sell firearms, we all want to protect our familes. I also suggested that she include in her letter that they hide all the saws and other dangerous tools as well. I told her she should keep her kid in a bubble and shelter him from the real world, this way she won't have to worry about those evil shiny guns that she sees in Walmart.It has almost been a year now since I 'saw the light' about firearms, and I am sooooooooo glad I do not sound these Moms anymore. They are an accident waiting to happen.
------------------
Sandys' Homepage
RKBA forums
We are as one as we all are the same fighting for one cause -Metallica
and they aren't locked up