Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

[Pappa Smirf]

I have been reading Ai since I started skirmishing exactly a year ago. I have had a few mags lying around in my room, my fiancee picked one up and had a flick through and she came across the adverts for a couple of airsofting retailers which use women to advertise their products (not mentioning any names FOR LEGAL REASONS).
Now Ai have been saying recently that they want more women to do Airsofting, now I'm not saying all women but some women find these adverts offensive. Is it an effective advert then?

Now when I buy a magazine, lets say Mini World for example, I want to see Minis!!!, When I buy an Airsofting magazine I want to see guns and kit, not an advert that doesn't even have a gun on it, the first one of these adverts looked like the advert for a lap dancing club!! If I wanted to look at women I'd buy Nuts or Zoo or an adult mag.

Are others of the same opinion as myself? Is using scantilly clad women entirely necessary in our hobby? Would you buy a gun from a company just because they advertised using women? But more to the point, Would you rather Ai didn't use these adverts and instead showned more guns?


By the way, I have no problem with women, I am engaged, to a woman, but its all about the right place at the right time.
Any opions either way would be welcome.

End of rant.

[Tyler]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

agreed i've stoped geting it now as there never seems to be any thing new maybe thats why the women are in it now?

[thebamsco]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

lol

More nude women the better

The near naked / naked male and female form is used a lot in main stream advertising - why should airsofting be different?

I say stick a couple of hunky fellahs in the mags too holding guns, to get the females interested, rather than stopping ads with tasty ladies.

Next you'll be wanting page 3 banned.... people today

[nice_guy_andy]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

Personally speaking I wouldn't purchase a weapon a woman was advertising in a magazine, they usually hold them all wrong anyway. I also very rarely get into a vehicle if a woman is driving it.

[gingerpanda]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

i think the women is good advertising but it shouldnt stop the gun content!!

[nice_guy_andy]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

On a more general issue I strongly believe that there should be more Airsoft advertising to the general public, like paintball sites do. If our sport/hobby/pastime/addiction is going to grow we need more and more fresh faces. I dont exactly know how we can do this as I dont work in marketing.

[Caveira]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

It's not just our sport.

Diving magazines are becoming more like top shelf mags all the time!

[jagillham]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

On a more general issue I strongly believe that there should be more Airsoft advertising to the general public, like paintball sites do. If our sport/hobby/pastime/addiction is going to grow we need more and more fresh faces. I dont exactly know how we can do this as I dont work in marketing.

Problem with this one is it is either going to go one of two ways.

1) Success: We're seen less as a bunch of weirdos, and the sport gets more into the main stream.

2) Epic Fail: We puch ourselves into the limelight, and open ourselves up to a stirred up backlash. Much like the Brand/Ross thing, where nobody cared. The newspapers told them to, and then 1000's of complaints come in.

[Pappa Smirf]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

I asked my fiancee if she'd like to see scantily clad men in Ai, she said there was only one man she wanted to see scantily clad and thats Ewan Macgregor.

I know that sex sells, and that using a supposedly sexy woman to sell a product is as old as Jesus Christ, but When I buy a magazine that is about guns I want to see guns and Ai is wasting space that could be taken up with Gun reviews or site reviews. Like I said I have no problems with women getting their kit off, just as long as its in the proper place.

[Sci Fi Steve]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

Adverts do not take up space meant for articles, if there were no adds then the mag would just be smaller, and proberbly more exspensive as adds is how the magazines generate their revenue.

Girls with Guns is a old concept same as Girls with Cars. The real steel Industry as used woman to advertise guns so why not Airsoft. Advertisers know that the majority of Airsoft Players are male ( would like to see more woman myself ) so they aim their adds to that demographic. I buy a gun because I like the look of the gun, but if it is being held by a sexy woman all the better. I don't think there is anything wrong with these adverts, as long as there not on the verge of porno.

[Aeviv]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

That said has anyone ever read 'combat and survival'? Every month they have a model dressed up in a different camo or gear of some kind. Personally, like Sci-fi, iv got no problem with them as long as they dont verge on pornographic, but equally well, like Pappa Smurf says, AI is for guns and thats what id like to see in there, rather than more bloody adverts!

[Pappa Smirf]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

The adverts I refere to wouldn't be too bad if the girl was even carrying a gun, but like I said in my original post, one of their adverts looks like its advertising a lap dancing club. What makes me want to look on a companies site, isn't women, its the guns they sell and the prices that they sell them at. In my opinion, if a company is reduced to using sex to sell, its because their too expensive and they know it, the fact that they don't even price their products like other successful companies makes me feel very dubious about their prices and competence. You don't see Zero one, or similar companies needing to lower themselves to this level.

[Sci Fi Steve]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

Yet Z1 does sell a Girls with Guns Calendar

[spetsnazdave87]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

Alas, youre all missing the point entirely... AI isn't for guns, or airsoft, or even original journalism, its for articles (literally!) cut-and-pasted from wikipedia and ASCUK/Arnie's...

Tbh when that little bit came out I boycotted AI completely so they could put in Jenna Jameson playing hide-the-moscart for all I care

[Aeviv]

Re: Airsoft advertising campaigns in Ai.

What actually happened with AI and ASCUK? I think i missed the whole thing