TV Ads and the NRA

B

boing

New member
I just sent this to the NRA.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>The most crucial battle for our Second Amendment rights lies not in the halls of Congress, or state legislatures, but in the hearts and minds of the American people.

With rare exceptions, our elected officials shift their supposed "values" in whatever direction will get them the most votes. What the voters clamor for, the politicos will gladly give, right or wrong, constitutional or not. Sway the people, and the politics will follow.

Clearly, nothing sways the people more than television. It is their primary source of information, and in many cases, their only source of information. If they see it on TV, they will believe it, especially if it is repeated ad nauseum.

Law abiding American gun owners, such as myself, and our most prominent public voice, the NRA, are vilified in every way on television. It is relentless. And the people believe it because there is such an appalling lack of counterpoint to the litany of emotionalized rhetoric.

Where are the facts? The honest statistics? The history lessons? The logic?

I believe the NRA's most urgent endeavor should be the re-education of the American people, through the use of nation-wide television.

A thirty minute "infomercial" is all well and good, if it is watched. But the average TV viewer will simply change the channel. The message is lost. Television viewers have been conditioned by "soundbite" news reports and thirty second advertisements, and their attention span is dreadfully short.

This fact could be used to our advantage in spreading the truth about firearm ownership. The following are what I consider to be some of the essential elements of such an ad campaign:

1) Ads should be brief. Address one issue per ad, not the whole argument, and use catch-phrase "soundbites" to simplify the message, and make it memorable.

2) Use well known and well liked celebrity personalities, particularly people who are not associated with firearms in the minds of the viewing public.

3) A friendly approach. The lies of HCI, et al, must be exposed, but without the appearance of lecturing, or antagonism.

4) High-gloss, professional production values. We are, after all, trying to sell something!

I imagine the ads, or some of them, could even be produced in such a way as to be considered public service announcements. In any event, they should all be tailored to avoid summary dismissal by the television companies for this or that reason of "policy". Any ad that is rejected for such reasons should be reworked to comply with the policy.

And if the ads are rejected time and time again, and nothing we do is good enough to permit them on the air, then make public the tall stack of rejection notices, and let the hypocrisy be known to everyone who will listen, myself included.

While I have focused here on television ads, the same principles can and should be applied to print media. While not as far-reaching as television, the potential outlets for our message are more numerous, and less expensive.

Sway the people, and the politics will follow.

As I have only recently become an NRA member, I would appreciate hearing of any efforts the organisation has made in this regard, and what the results have been, if any.


Respectfully,

Kenneth Keating[/quote]

I certainly don't expect them to smack their collective foreheads and say "Of Course! Why didn't we think of that!". I just want them to address the issue for me. I'll post their reply, if any.

Comments welcome...

-boing
 
I wish I had written that letter to the NRA--well done. Please keep us posted as to their response.

Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Lucas (edited July 29, 1999).]
 
Dont kid your self! The big three media is "in my mind" just like "State controlled" news in China,or Russia. just better disquised. to manipulate the public.
Their pullin the strings and yankin your chain
I dont think the pro constitution side will ever get the un-biased coverage to the extent the antis converge to destroy us with popular opinion ie:"Bad gun press" But I commend the Efforts and agree that we should use other means of media to get the word out.
I hear the NRA's radio spots alot nowadays, thats a good start.



[This message has been edited by PEA SHOOTER (edited July 29, 1999).]
 
Great letter. I too am curious to see what their answer will be. Please be sure to post it here. I expect that it might be difficult to find a network that will air them.

------------------
www.sidearmor.net

Precision Crafted
Kydex Holsters
 
Id hate to resort to the following tactic, but in a war........
I would think that exposing hci's major fuding body as the united methodist church might drive some of the anti-church crowd away from supporting the anti gun crowd, or maybe cause some uncertantity amongst them.....its probably just wishful thinking.....fubsy.
 
It's almost certainly all wishful thinking. And the NRA has certainly considered these things before. I just want to hear what they've done, and what came of it.

No reply yet. They're probably busy formatting their enormous pile of repeated rejection letters so they can email them to me. ;)

-boing
 
I heard somewhere that the NRA has tried, and the networks have refused to air NRA ads.

Something along the lines of "inapropriate"

I'm curious what the NRA's response would be.

------------------
Same Shot, Different day
 
Still no response, but I'm not surprised. I'll email a follow-up.

Sameshot: That's what I want to see: the reasons, in the words of the TV People, why such ads are considered "inappropriate".

-boing
 
Sameshot brings up a good point. Every so often (how often?) TV and radio stations must renew their licenses. If the NRA kept track of these renewal dates and, when a local station is up for renewal, sent us the information we need, we could make a stink.

If the NRA organized the data, I'd sure be willing to write to the FCC with the gripe of unfairness and slanted news. Maybe we could have an effect?

Boing,
Nice letter!!

[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited August 01, 1999).]
 
boing:

I have seen NRA television ads in my viewing area (south Louisiana). In fact, I caught one just the other night, it had lengthy footage of the Australian gun confiscation, including the familiar shots of front-end loaders scooping up huge piles of rifles and shotguns. It also showed the shops where the collected weapons were methodically being destroyed. Very effective footage, well worth the obvious prive tag.

Unfortunately, I saw it ONLY because I was indulging in channel-surfing and was clicking through the channels using the "Channel Up" key. It was on some local cable-access channel that only "broadcasts" when there is a paid program. That supports what the NRA has been saying about being denied advertising on the major networks. Realistically, they'd do far better to use a brief, punchy ad in an expensive timeslot, but they've resorted to big info-mercial type ads that run on the only channels that'll take them.

I agree with other respondants that specific refusals from networks and local broadcast affiliates should be handed to NRA members in the viewing area of said stations, for the purposes of finding out about broadcast licence renewal and other localized activity. The media honors money more than any political agenda, so a good swift kick in the pocketbook should be dealt to any recalcitrant broadcaster. That'll get their attention.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top