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Me and the Media

6K views 50 replies 26 participants last post by  GWRedDragon 
#1 ·
Hi,I am A John Peters from Home BackUp Protection, makers of The-BackUp shotgun rack. We sent out a press release a few days ago about the recent home invasions. Since then I have been skewered by the press and have been getting a lot of hate mail.

The point we were trying to make was that people need adequate home protection. I have been personally attacked as:
a gun nut
a self serving grease ball trying to make a quick buck
a militant radical
a (edited out) crazy American
and more.

One newspaper said the A in my name stood for (edited out by QKShooter)
I do not feel we sensationalized the recent sad killing any more than TV and radio including MSNBC, CNN the Chicago Tribune and LA Times. What if "the Joe the Plumber" type of person was killed in a home invasion? Would there be lines of newscasters around his house?

The point we were trying to make, and may have failed, was that it is important to protect yourself and have some form of home protection. I feel the media is personally attacking me and avoiding discussing our 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms. By attacking me, they do not have to discuss the real issues.

Thanks for letting get this off of my chest.

John

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#41 ·
As much as I hate the left-wing liberal media...

Your original advertisement was in poor taste, and in my opinion, bad judgement.

If you made the decision to run the ad, shame on you. If someone else in your organization came up with the idea, they shoud be gone, now.

From what I have read and seen from the media, it didn't look like the victims were lying in bed in the middle of the night. I don't know what difference your product would have made if the victims were in the living area (away from the bed) when the killer(s) entered the house. It seems to me that your product is geared toward the sleeping homeowner that has immediate access to a shotgun when a middle-of-the-night home invasion or burgarly occurs.

You have a great product. And from an old salesman's point of view, the penalty close works pretty good. But not at the misfortune of a family that has suffered a tragic loss like the celebrity you targeted.

The fact that Chicago is pretty close in leading the country in homicides would have been a better, albeit still questionable, marketing idea.
 
#43 ·
As the President of the company, I take full responsibility of what comes out of the company. Good or bad, Right or Wrong. Even though this should not have gone out, I could of stopped it and didn't. This was a mistake that I will be paying for, for a long time.

I would like something good come out of this discussion. We need to put light the issue without mentioning our product or product. Any thing I say will seem (and probably be) self serving. We will be discussing our statements with our investors on Monday. Some things that come out may be good, and some probably bad.

The point remains, we could not get any press until it was negative. We have sent numerous releases about home safety, including non-armed responses/safety precautions and have you seen any of them?

There are still numerous home invasions without adequate protection.

Thanks,
John
 
#42 ·
It was in bad taste, not just because it was gun related. The same uproar occured after Princess Diana's death when a Volvo dealership in (I believe) Australia ran an ad saying that if she had been riding in a Volvo instead of a Mercedes, she might still be alive.

It was tacky then, and it's tacky now, to exploit the death of others for commercial gain. That's the difference when we discuss on this board how a story might have ended differently had the victims been in possesion of a firearm. Nobody involved in the discussion stands to gain financially from discussing the loss of life.
 
#44 ·
Forum Rule #4.
As a family-friendly forum, we ask that you keep your language clean, exactly as we hope you would when addressing respected elders. Creative workarounds (the use of special characters to replace some letters) on language are not allowed. Violators of this rule will be warned once; those repeatedly breaking this rule will have their accounts permanently revoked. NOTE: Links to off site material will be held to our family-friendly standard, as well.
Sorry, I was quoting radio, TV, Internet and print on the 1st reference. The second was from You-Tube and personal email. I will edit more carefully in the future.

John
 
#45 ·
I am A. John Peters, the scumbug President that released the press release in question. There or 3 things that could of happened to have this release come out.

1. I helped create the release
2. I knew about the release and let it go out
3. I did not know about the release

On the first 2, I am completely culpable. On the third one, I am a bad manager. In any of the three, I consider it my mistake.

As the President of the company, I take full responsibility of what comes out of the company. Good or bad, Right or Wrong. Even though this should not have gone out, I could of stopped it and didn't. This was a mistake that I will be paying for, for a long time.

I would like something good come out of this discussion. We need to put light the issue without mentioning our product or product. Any thing I say will seem (and probably be) self serving. We will be discussing our statements with our investors on Monday. Some things that come out may be good, and some probably bad.

The point remains, we could not get any press until it was negative. We have sent numerous releases about home safety, including non-armed responses/safety precautions and have you seen any of them? This press release was blasted all over the world and got more exposure than even the TV appearances that I have. Each one of the articles I saw, had advertising on them. I guess we are not the only people “trying to make money on tragedy”.

Some other points. On the same page that was decrying our tastelessness, there was a link to the crime scene photos. I also saw pictures of the house surrounded with “journalists” 5 deep. Each one of the articles I saw, had advertising on them. I guess we are not the only people “trying to make money on tragedy”.

I believe everyone needs to have some form of home protection. This includes but not limited to

* Adequate Lighting
* Safe Windows, Doors and Locks
* A warning system such as alarms or dogs to let you know something is happening
* A way to illuminate intruders while keeping you in the dark.
* Training on how to protect you and your family

Also, as the 2nd Amendment guarantees, a firearm that you are trained in using in case of a life threating situation.

There are still numerous home invasions without adequate protection. I am proposing that our company find ways to promote home safety with our mentioning our product.

I am not asking for approval of our past actions, but understanding that we went further than we needed to. I would also like your ideas on how to promote home safety with directly tying it to our product.

Thanks,
John
 
#48 ·
I agree with many that it was not in the best taste. The phrase "too soon" comes to mind. In an article, I read that your response was "that sometimes the public has to be hit between the eyes."

This is something that i'm sure many people here agree on. I see countless posts that say things like "Sheeple need to be raped/mugged/attacked/have loved ones murdered to see the light and protect themselves. It takes tragedy for a person to realize that they alone are responsible for their own protection, etc......."

As a business owner myself, I have done some stupid things that have been less than profitable for my company, so I understand. I also will not blame you for what you did. In the early years of a business the odds of going under are huge. You did something ,that at the time, sounded like a good idea. Unfortunatly, the public did not agree. Whether this publicity will help or damage your company in the long run is yet to be seen.

As was stated earlier, your primary demographic is the home defense inclined gun owner. Hopefully you will get some of their attentions and they will see your product as useful through all the media bashing.

You did apologize and take full responsibility and that is the mark of a good person. Also I feel that you have a pretty good product.
I may check it out myself.

Everyone makes mistakes and it will pass as soon as the next sensational story gets blown out of proportion.

Hang in and good luck
-mac

I think the rack needs a deluxe version that has a gun vault style quick release lock over the trigger and reciever. push a few buttons and the cover pops open to reveal a fully loaded ready to rock shotty. Kid friendly sells big time.
 
#49 ·
I think the rack needs a deluxe version that has a gun vault style quick release lock over the trigger and reciever. push a few buttons and the cover pops open to reveal a fully loaded ready to rock shotty. Kid friendly sells big time.
Thank you for your words Mac. We have been working with Mossberg on their lock (actually have a prototype), and trying to find other companies that provide something we could sell in conjunction with our device.

John
 
#51 ·
If you're going to post here (and other forums) you should probably put a link to your company website in your signature :smile:
 
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