Why is there an NRA Wine Club??

Status
Not open for further replies.
I do not know what this has to do with Firearms, I suspect it is just another thread to bash the NRA. There are over 800 wine clubs throughout the US. People join different clubs for different reasons. I belong to the Virginia wine Club and I am sure some would take offense at that. I have not looked at the NRA wine club, but perhaps it would be one I would be interested in.
 
Makes perfect sense to combine wine and shooting. Empty bottles become targets. Drink... destroy empty bottle... repeat. (Joking, of course)
 
You do realize the 2nd amendment is all about alcohol, tobacco and firearms…….right? :p

In all seriousness. This seems rather misguided. I have no issue with folks drinking but I think it goes without saying that it shouldn’t be combined with firearms unless its AFTER a day of shooting and everything is secured.
 
I'm not a member, and I don't drink much wine, but it seems to me that a group that was enthusiastic about both wine and guns might find a lot in common?
 
Guess too many have never seen or been to a Euro gun club where they have a restaurant and full bar available
 
As MarkCO wrote, "It's all about the $$$"

The "NRA Wine Club" isn't really an NRA activity. It appears to be a co-branding exercise, whereby an outside organization gets access to the NRA's membership list to promote their product, and in exchange the NRA gets a piece of the action.

The web site for the NRA Wine Club doesn't come out of a link from the NRA's home page. It seems to be completely separate. I found it. When I got to it, I clicked on the "Contact Us" link. That leads to a lot more than just contact information:

https://www.nrawineclub.com/promo/support.cfm?src=nraweboffer2019##contact

Buried in that mess, however, is an address:

Contact Us

Call us during our business hours:
1-800-331-5578, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.

Write:
4550 East Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite 100
Westlake Village, CA 91362

My guess is that some enterprising group of small, California wineries got together and pitched this "Wine Club" idea to the NRA, and the NRA saw some free money so they signed on. Other than providing the membership roster, I doubt very much that the NRA has anything to do with this. They are just licensing the use of the NRA name.

I also expect that all the wines are from small California wineries that nobody has ever heard of. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- there are a lot of good wineries in California. But the promotional materials give me the impression that I should expect access to some of the finest wines from all over the workd, and I don't think that's what the NRA Wine Club is providing.

Bottom line: it's another example of the NRA whoring out the name.
 
It is just standard Marketing used by many thousands of organizations throughout the World. Children's Hospital, USAA, AARP and on and on have Wine club discounts and other discounts. If you feel the NRA is a whore for using a wine club discount, you can simply go to the Vinesse which is the Club that administers the club for the NRA without the discounts offered by being a NRA member.

Of course the many organization do receive part of the profits to further the growth of their Organization. If you feel they are whoring out their name is entirely up to you the individual.

Others may see it as savvy marketing. Wineries, business's etc all have to pay for advertising which is huge for any business. If they can reach out to a large organization with millions of members it is advantageous to them l and of course that advertising will cost them. It is a win, win for all. The business makes a profit, the organization receives funds, and the members receive lower cost at the same time of supporting the organization they themselves support.
 
Last edited:
Many companies offer discounts to members of certain organizations. I have no problem with that. If the NRA Wine Club is, in fact, run by some company called Vinesse, then the usual procedure would be for Vinesse to offer a discount of 'X' percent to NRA members.

Branding a subsidiary as the "NRA Wine Club" is not just offering a discount to NRA members.
 
They do offer a discount of "Membership" only for a certain amount of purchase. If you want futher discounts off the wine, you can get them from the NRA club. Or you can simply choose to not join the club or the NRA. No one is forcing you to join either.
 
Carl the Floor Walker said:
They do offer a discount of "Membership" only for a certain amount of purchase. If you want futher discounts off the wine, you can get them from the NRA club. Or you can simply choose to not join the club or the NRA. No one is forcing you to join either.
I can't tell if you are deliberately obfuscating the issue or not, so allow me to clarify:

The discounts to which I referred are not internal discounts engendered by membership in a phantom "club, they are discounts offered to all members of organizations. Examples: AARP membership brings with it discounts for all sorts of things, such as car rentals from agencies like Hertz, Avis, and National. Ditto for when I was a member of the American Institute of Architects -- just by mentioning the AIA, I got a 15% discount from Hertz, Avis, National, Alamo, a number of hotel chains, and several other types of businesses.

The NRA used to have the same thing, although in recent years it seems that the number of businesses willing to give a discount for NRA membership is dwindling.

The point is, none of those discounts in any way rebranded the service to include the NRA name. Hertz didn't become "The NRA Car Rental Club." Marriott didn't become "The NRA Hotel Club." The NRA could have worked out a similar discount deal with Vinesse, or some other purveyor of wines. Instead, someone came up with the idea of "The NRA Wine Club." The only reason I can think of for the NRA to have done this is that the vintner paid the NRA for the use of the name -- and probably for access to the member list, something with which I have objections if that's what happened.
 
I was a member for two or three years. My wife likes wine, and she really enjoyed the semi-surprise of the wine deliveries.
 
The only reason I can think of for the NRA to have done this is that the vintner paid the NRA for the use of the name -- and probably for access to the member list, something with which I have objections if that's what happened.

There you have it.

Looking out for your rights and freedoms, for a small fee and your privacy.

In my opinion, of course.
 
I can't tell if you are deliberately obfuscating the issue or not, so allow me to clarify:

The discounts to which I referred are not internal discounts engendered by membership in a phantom "club, they are discounts offered to all members of organizations. Examples: AARP membership brings with it discounts for all sorts of things, such as car rentals from agencies like Hertz, Avis, and National. Ditto for when I was a member of the American Institute of Architects -- just by mentioning the AIA, I got a 15% discount from Hertz, Avis, National, Alamo, a number of hotel chains, and several other types of businesses.

The NRA used to have the same thing, although in recent years it seems that the number of businesses willing to give a discount for NRA membership is dwindling.

The point is, none of those discounts in any way rebranded the service to include the NRA name. Hertz didn't become "The NRA Car Rental Club." Marriott didn't become "The NRA Hotel Club." The NRA could have worked out a similar discount deal with Vinesse, or some other purveyor of wines. Instead, someone came up with the idea of "The NRA Wine Club." The only reason I can think of for the NRA to have done this is that the vintner paid the NRA for the use of the name -- and probably for access to the member list, something with which I have objections if that's what happened.
Thanks, but you do not need to clarify anything for me. Lol, I could care less one way or the other. I was NOT trying obfuscate a thing. Just simply pointing out how other organizations use marketing. I will reiterate this, If you do not like their marketing simply move on. If you do not want to join their wine club then just do not join it. There are other wine clubs out there. Buy from Vinesse directly, If you do not want to join the NRA ,simply do not join it or join another organization of your choice. That should be easy enough.
I belong to another wine club, and that was just a choice I made.I took a few marketing courses in College, but not a expert. If you have suggestion for the NRA Marketing department, you might send up a letter that would help them out.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top