Gear, not guns

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pootkao
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Gear, not guns

Post by pootkao » Sun Jun 29, 2008 4:35 pm

UPDATE: the ad wasn't placed by API, it was made by the retailer. They emailed me back. The ad has been removed.

Mods, feel free to delete this thread. Its now unnecessary.
Last edited by pootkao on Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I choose not the suffocating anaesthetic of the suburbs, but the violent jolt of the capital, that is my choice." (Virginia Woolf)

aitikin
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Post by aitikin » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:02 pm

Alright, soap box time.

War has always been glorified because people need the glory when they return. Since Vietnam people have not had the glory that they used to have and have been vilified instead. Now, while I feel that war is a terrible thing, it seems almost intrinsic to war for the troops to be glorified.

/soap box

My point is that, while using war for advertising may not be the best call, when you're using a name such as Arsenal Audio the war and weaponry metaphors write themselves.
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Re: Gear, not guns

Post by joel hamilton » Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:39 pm

pootkao wrote:So I logged over to Studio Economik's website the other day, and across the front page splashes a new ad for API's Arsenal Audio line.

"Be prepared for war" said the slogan, on a camoflauge backdrop.

Is it really necessary to glorify war even through recording gear?
Studios are not battlegrounds. They are places of creativity and people coming together to make art, commercial or otherwise. Gear is not worth fighting for or dying for, and in the grand scheme of human existance, we who work in studios lead a pretty damn lucky life free from the peril of violence faced by millions of people on this planet.

To glorify war through ads for audio equipment is an insult against anyone who has lost friends or family, and an insult against those who tirelessly work for peace.

Our world needs more positive messages in this day and age.

API just lost a customer.
Right on, man.
I hear you.
I may feel like you are taking it a little far, but I fully agree with the sentiment, and we dont have to be 100% in agreemet on this. I hate guns. A lot. but that ad doesnt bum me out that bad. it is kind of lame, but i dont find it insulting any more or less than any advertisement in the last, say, 60 years.

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Post by RefD » Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:15 pm

be prepared for war?

wtf?

if i have to "go to war" to get a sound then i'll go with a different option, thanks.

this really reeks of 80s dumbass marketing a la Dean Markley, only with instruments of death instead of cheesecake.

BIG TURNOFF for me.
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca

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Post by mjau » Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:25 pm

While we're discussing bad marketing, am I the only one offended by the joke on Mercenary's website about battered women?

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Post by joel hamilton » Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:31 pm

mjau wrote:While we're discussing bad marketing, am I the only one offended by the joke on Mercenary's website about battered women?
You are not the only one. I just ignore all of the bullshit ads with like this "tough guy" type of crap in it. I dont know who is doing recordings that fancies themselves a super bad ass for using a certain compressor or microphone, but they should quit today if that exists.

I hate that frat boy mentality. I got into music/art stuff as I moved AWAY from those kind of attitudes.

Lame, misogynist ads seem to be par for the course in pro audio. I want to know how these companies are SO out of touch with what any of us wants to see!?!?

BUT: it does not make me think they are out of touch with making gear though. My mechanic makes tit jokes and whistles at women and stuff, which i personally think is lame, but it does not make me question whether he can do his job... but it does make me think he is kind of a douche in certain ways..

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Re: Gear, not guns

Post by rhythm ranch » Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:16 pm

pootkao wrote:API just lost a customer.
I hope you shared your thoughts with API, in addition to posting here. While the Interwebs have created a convenient venue for sharing our frustration, unhappiness and even anger, there's still great value in telling them directly how you feel about their poor choice in marketing.

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Re: Gear, not guns

Post by mattwhritenour » Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:23 pm

pootkao wrote:API just lost a customer.
Selling any API stuff?

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Post by calaverasgrandes » Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:48 pm

I havent seen the ad. But yes, audio engineering advertising is often frat-boyish. Using war imagery I think is no so much un-PC as just in bad taste and not a very good idea when your country is in an unpopular protracted boondoggle of a war. Who was the genius that came up with this?
This would be like coming out with a war themed ad campaign in the waning years of the Nixon administration.
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Post by Smitty » Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:46 am

mjau wrote:While we're discussing bad marketing, am I the only one offended by the joke on Mercenary's website about battered women?
for real. saw that after i placed an order with them and immediately wished i hadn't. i'll take my business elsewhere in the future.
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Post by Recycled_Brains » Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:46 am

joel hamilton wrote:My mechanic makes tit jokes and whistles at women and stuff, which i personally think is lame, but it does not make me question whether he can do his job...

I would be suspicious if a mechanic didn't make tit jokes and whistle at women. :wink:
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pootkao
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UPDATE

Post by pootkao » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:02 am

Hey folks

I did email the retailer and API, and just found out that API did not place the ad. The retailer made it, so my beef is ultimately with them, and they've now taken it down.
"I choose not the suffocating anaesthetic of the suburbs, but the violent jolt of the capital, that is my choice." (Virginia Woolf)

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Post by ;ivlunsdystf » Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:17 am

PC FTW!

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Post by RefD » Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:40 pm

i love a happy ending!



how much?
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca

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Post by mattwhritenour » Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:28 pm

RefD wrote:i love a happy ending!



how much?
LOL!

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