Gunvertising

Here's a question we don't have an answer to:

Why, when we look at movie posters where celebrities are proudly holding guns, don't we think: Hey, wait a second... That's product placement!

Think about it.

A gun is just a product like any other.

But somehow, when Angelina Jolie is toting one, it becomes an accessory. Not a product. Simply an extension of her arm. A symbol to show that she is capable, deadly, not-to-be-trifled-with, etc.

But a gun isn't a symbol, it's a product made expressly for the purpose of ending human life.

We thought this the other day as we were looking at a poster for that movie "Wanted"
Everyone in the poster is holding guns, which turns the poster into a double ad. One for the movie, one for the guns.

Why is this okay?

So far as we know, a gun is good for one thing: throwing a chunk of metal really fast. Usually at another person. So, a gun is a machine for throwing metal chunks at other people.

A pretty destructive act.

We have no problem with guns. But when they are advertised in such a blatant, (yet subtle) way, with no real thought put into why one would advertise a gun in the first place, that's when we think they've crossed the line into the realm of... dare we say it... environmental negativity.

Angelina Jolie seems to care very deeply about the suffering of folks in war-torn places.
So it strikes us as counter-intuitive for her to be advertising guns.

But make no mistake about it, she's advertising guns.

When you see a celebrity advertising guns, ask yourself: Why is Celebrity X advertising those guns? How much are they being paid to advertise those guns? How much are the gun corporations paying the studios for the honor of having their products toted by said celebrities?

It's time to stop and reconsider gunvertising.

Here's a link to a Yahoo Answers thread where someone was asking about a list of all the guns featured in the movie.

If this post seems a bit prickly for your average SuperForest post, it is simply because lately we here in NYC have been surrounded by these posters. Which makes the posters a big part of our environment.

And, since we are in the business of improving our environment we thought it prudent to spread the "look out for gunvertising" meme.

Love to all,

Team SuperForest.



Mmmmmm! Bananas and radishes!
(Brought to you by the Banana/Radish Coalition in conjunction with the Banana/Radish Lobby 2008)