I should know better by now, it was KSFO, one of the once-legacy radio stations in SF decapitated by Cumulus media.
I was sitting down sipping coffee when I heard an ad being played. It was a local gun store hyping its "firearms and mass quantity of artillery." The female voice-over sounded methodical and chillingly stoic. Perfect tone really considering the fact that she was touting guns and ammo.
I know this is going to open up a can of worms about gun violence, gun control, et al. That's for another lounge, this is a media blog. And please, I don't need a lecture about the second amendment.
This is about a radio station airing gun ads. Given KSFO's white-male dominated limited audience, perhaps they don't care about ethics and are squarely trying to seize upon their target demo, pun intended. Even at that, I'm quite uneasy about Cumulus, which owns KSFO, doing anything for the almighty buck, even selling ads for gun stores. It just sounded, quite frankly, crazy, tacky too.
Furthermore, it speaks volumes about how Cumulus can't read the room. Have they forgot how many school or theatre shootings has occurred in this country? Have they ever heard of Gabby Giffords--do they recall Columbine, Virginia Tech or Newtown, Conn? Wait a minute, once again, I pause, it's Cumulus after all.
Sorry, but I find the ads offensive and inappropriate. I suppose the company that has on its website the image of its morning host aiming a firearm inappropriate too, especially in light of all the seemingly monthly mass shootings that has plagued this country and sent terror through all of our people, including the poor children in Newtown. Dummy me, I thought that would be the game-changer. And I didn't even mention that nine year-old girl in Las Vegas that accidently shot her shooting instructor to death with an Uzi --at a place called "Bullets and Burgers."
So, once again, if you listen to KSFO and hear those gun ads and don't feel a little uncomfortable, I would suggest that maybe you don't have a pulse. I listened and said there's something wrong here. Or just another example of the irresponsibility called Cumulus.
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Those ads are on-target. Some might say they're doing a bang-up job. Maybe you're just shooting the breeze.
ReplyDeleteAnybody know why you can't buy, sell or trade guns or ammo on Tradio on the Radio? Just sayin'. Perfect for KMJ in Fresno or various stations around and in the Bay Area.
Delete9:18 - You will trigger a response doing this goofiness. It will be like shooting fish in a barrel. Everyone will want to have a piece of the action if there is too much heat. Are you loaded?
DeleteI heard them the other day. Don't remember which FM Channel but I only listen to 105.3 and 107.7 and 95.7 when the A's play.
DeleteI heard the gun ads and I was delighted that this is going on. We need more people educated and trained on how to protect themselves and their families. It does no good to put your hands over your eyes, trying not to see any guns in the world. They do exist. You must decide will the only people in possession of guns be crooks and cranks? No, if you prize what you own and who you love, it is your duty to be ready to protect them. I say, as long as the ads are tastefully done, do it. In fact, I may birthday-treat myself to a handgun training session at Bullseye in Marin County.
ReplyDeleteBloggers and talk show yappers not carrying is what scares me. What good is the law of protection via the Constitution if everyone doesn't do it? That gun or rifle sitting next to the sofa does you no good if you're at your friendly convenience store and it gets robbed. Oh, yeah, like in Missouri. One against nothing isn't much fair, is it? Ahhh, but not everyone wants a gun. So why have them if you don't use them? Maybe there would be more "safety" if people realized that more people aren't afraid to use them against each other, not just when the government turns on us.
DeleteUsually people that are big 2nd rights amendment are fairly conservative, which means they don't want the government involved in too much personal stuff, well, except when it comes to abortion or gay marriage. So now it sound like you want everyone to have a gun, which means you are probably for some kind of government mandate or even law to enforce that. I support the 2nd amendment, I think it is valid, I grew up in the countryside in Scandinavia, most farmers had guns, many was hunters, shooting, deer, duck, other birds, that was edible. My Dad was a pretty good target shoot, although I don't remember him ever shooting an animal, probably because he did not have hunting rights to the land he farmed, which was leased from the landowner. Anyway I don't want a gun, I have a terrible temper I might just use it on some idiot and thinks arming everyone is the answer, then I would end of in jail for murder or similar, and I'm pretty sure the person I killed would not be worth my freedom.
DeleteExcellent column and good points Rich. I couldn't agree with you more. Advertising guns and ammo has no place on any radio station, anywhere. There are unfortunately, a lot of nutty gun enthusiasts who seem to think their right to own and use firearms trumps our need for safety. They are among the big reasons this country is so dysfunctional and currently in denial over the issues of gun control and violence. If you ever have a conversation with one of these cretins, you'll notice that they spout the same tired rhetoric that we've been hearing for years:
ReplyDelete"My second Amendment rights allow me to buy guns and ammo and keep my family safe!" What a bunch of BS! I'd like to see some of these pin-heads try to use that line of thinking when they talk to some of the relatives of the victims of Sandy Hook or Columbine, or Virginia Tech, or of the many other areas where innocent people were slaughtered by sickos who were allowed to buy guns.
You forgot the cop in Ferguson, MO who shot a bully 18 year old to death who was without a weapon, and the state National Guard who backed up the copy pointing weapons at the Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson believers. Yeah, you make a lot of sense 9:35. Just like the imbociles there who carried their weapons in the parade march and threatened to use them if the need arose. There were a couple of arrests for "carrying." At least that's what Don Lemon, Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper kept harping on as they about crapped themselves wondering, "Why are we here and why are we giving so much attention that will only bring more violence if that cop isn't indicted." Let the ads stay. We've made no effort to stop them because "we can't." Let the free market decide. Let Christine pack heat all she wants. She's not likely to shoot anbody in cold blood.
DeleteIs she?
There is nothing wrong, whatsoever, with a legitimate business buying air time on the radio. One should also not conflate gun ownership with partisan leanings. That's just lazy thinking.
ReplyDeleteLazy thinking? Rich Lieberman? Oh, come now, Christine. You don't mean that, do you? I guess you support Uzi's for 9 year old girls, too. Really?
DeleteCriticizing Lieberman's lazy thinking about this subject which concerns legal radio advertising for a legally sold product is not synonymous with supporting Uzis for 9 year olds.
DeleteApparently anon@10:56's thinking is just as lazy as Lieberman's.
Well said 10:13. Especially as it's "verbotten" to link rap with racism and crime, even though it celebrates both of those in its so called lyrics.
DeleteAgreed. More penis ads, they really class up radio. If they get rid of these terrible ads for legal products, maybe they can have more room for retirement home commercials.
ReplyDeleteIdiot.
What's wrong with this picture? Nothing. Chill out liberal pansies. Try hugging it out with the guy that has a gun pointed at you and see where that gets you. Reality check, as we keep filling our state with 3rd world refugees from the south the crime has only gotten much much worse.
ReplyDeleteWe know quite a few people who carry for that specific reason, permit or not. A Los Angeles cop told me that in bad neighborhoods it pays to carry and fight the charge or plead no contest if you're caught. His card is still in my wallet.
DeleteCalifornia will no doubt be forced to expand "shall issue" permitting to all counties and when they do, I will have one. I already bought a holster!
Way to go, Rich! You expressed your opinion without being angry, calling anyone names, and by making a solid point. People may not agree with you, but they'll have to address what you said, not how you said it. THAT is what will draw more people to your blog and make them want to read more. It makes you the better person. Happy Sunday to you. :)
ReplyDeleteUmmm, yeah, he actually did make derogatory asides about a segment of the populace. Massive generalizations.
DeleteBut "hey!" it's "OK" to denigrate white folks (I mean, The White Devils!) but it's not the done thing to note the crime that infests the third-worlder neighborhoods that speak a devolved version of Spanish...
9;35AM, In case you have not yet connected the dots, I'll do it for you. Calling a Campus or a large public area a "Gun Free Zone" serves only to advertise how everyone in that area is defenseless and completely unprepared to deal with a gunman, except to hide or runaway. Allowing tested, responsible and licensed adults (18 qualifies in this case) to discreetly carry is the best solution for overall protection. All of the three school shooting sites you mentioned were mainly Gun Free Zones, or very sparsely patrolled.
ReplyDeleteYour comment sponsored by Ted Nugent
Deletei like it when 9 year olds fire uzis.
ReplyDeletereminds me of africa.
#progress
Rich, please spare us your self-righteous indignation and your "shock, resentment and then anger."
ReplyDeleteKSFO is a commercial radio station, in business to make money. Their revenue comes from paid advertising. The advertising in this case is for a product which as far as I know can be advertised and sold legally.
Why is this so difficult to understand? All sorts of objectionable products are advertised on radio and television all the time.
Does Lieberman think that any product that happens to offend him personally should be banned from local airwaves?
Good points 11:09.
DeleteHey, Rich. Let me "axe" you a question (as Rush says.) What would you do if you do your show Tuesday and in your first break at 2:20 -- you hear an ad for a gun shop in Watsonville or Santa Cruz or even Monterey? Would you run it, despite your indignation? The over/under says you'll cave in.
"What's wrong with this picture?" Um, nothing. It's ok to buy and own guns legally. Don't like it? Don't buy one. Just like this blog. Don't like it? Don't read it. Right? All's fair in love and legally obtained guns and ammo. Hand grenades? Not so much. A working Uzi? Probably not the best thing to flash outside the Trans America Tower openly..On might scare the little children doing that.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I don't think firearms advertising on radio and TV is all that uncommon these days, especially in places like Georgia, Arizona and Texas. Once upon a time, gun advertising was not allowed under the now-defunct broadcasting industry code of standards and practices.
ReplyDeleteA Minnesota-based radio-TV group owner, Hubbard Broadcasting, broke ranks on this and started carrying gun ads in the 1970's. I thought it was outrageous and wrote to the company's far-right owner, Stan Hubbard. He answered my letter. But needless to say, he was not persuaded by my arguments.
Comcast Spotlight (the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable) and Time Warner Cable both announced last year that they would no longer accept gun ads. They have taken heat from the gun lobby on this. The gun lobby is trying to use the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger review process as leverage to convince them to change their minds. JW
Please wake me up next time Rich Lieberman approves of ANYTHING any local radio or television station does.
ReplyDeleteJust the other day,the Trib/Mercury/BANG ran a full page gun shop ad. Just what Oaklanders need.
ReplyDeleteBANG never runs "We must get guns out of the community" editorials. They just publish the gun murders. You know,what the public wants.
How many liquor stores are in Oaktown? Do you advocate shutting them down too? They're selling legal products, and I'd bet liquor contributes to almost as much problems in Oaktown as crack an heroin. Maybe more.
DeleteMaybe if the African American gentlemen in Oakland would hold the firearms correctly instead of sideways we'd have less accidental discharges and as a result less shootings.
DeleteHey Stan, you don't think newspapers should "publish the gun murders"? How about stabbings?
ReplyDeleteAnother brilliant comment from some guy named Stan.
IMHO, *** advertising and selling *** guns is not the heart of the societal problem we have in this society today with firearm deaths. Sadly, many if not most firearms are obtained illegally, without any screening, waiting period, etc. - by lots of unstable folks who use them inappropriately. And those obtained ** legally ** are very often in the hands of equally unstable people WITH a history that could easily have been checked. But the gun lobby allows all of this nonsense to continue unchecked - and we live in a whacked world because of it.
ReplyDeleteThe cigarette industry used to argue that advertising by the tobacco companies was about brand loyalty and/or switching, not about increasing the demand for and use of tobacco. They lied. Gun enthusiasts know what brand they want and where to get it. The goal of fire arms advertising is to make ownership of guns as commonplace as smart phones. JW
Delete@2:06
ReplyDeleteWell-said and precisely why the Swiss have--and will always be--more intelligent than Americans when it comes to responsible gun ownership.
I happen to know a couple of Swiss people. They're both pretty stupid.
DeleteIf guns were outlawed only outlaws would have guns.
Delete4:55 you are not trying to tell us that because you know a few (2) swiss people that all swiss people are stupid are you? That would make you pretty stupid. I know a lot of American's some are stupid, real stupid, some are very, very smart, and most are fairly smart with a good dose of common sense.
DeleteThere's something else to point out. Cumulus is running out of people to sell ads to. The gig is up. Everybody who uses radio ads regularly knows the stations are at the bottom of the beauty contest ratings. Solution? Spread out. Get the places that don't normally advertise on radio and don't know any better. First stop: gun shops. Why not? Makes sense. Salespeople gotta eat, too. The next problem is, what happens when those places learn the same thing the other former clientele learned? Who will they sell to then? Free-lance dog walkers?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking this is why the ads for hard liquor came back: economics. That revenue is increasingly precious.
DeleteI agree, but they probably have to run whatever ads they can manage to get nowadays. It's a death spiral, race to the bottom.
ReplyDeletePraise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
ReplyDelete"all the seemingly monthly mass shootings that has plagued this country and sent terror through all of our people"
ReplyDeleteThat's just mass media fueling and stoking irrational fear.
They can stoke all they want. This issue is decided. It's OVER.
DeleteRich, it's not news that KSFO is airing gun spots. Sussman has been doing live reads for City Arms in Pacifica and Pleasant Hill for years. Funny thing I noticed is that after a mass shooting like Gabby Giffords or Newton, the spots would stop for a few days. Kind of like how the airlines pull their commercials for a couple of weeks after a major U.S. air disaster.
ReplyDeleteBut if you're worried about gun violence, don't focus your attention on gun stores. The process of buying a gun these days is highly regulated. Their customers are NRA members. Have you ever heard of a mass shooting by an NRA member?
The violence we see on the streets are by guys who procure illegal guns from people selling them out of the trunks of their cars, or by criminals who have stolen their weapons.
It's obvious that broadcasters are desperate for money and have dropped all standards when it comes to advertising. Listen to the infomercials aired by CC's 910 and 960 on the weekends for miracle drugs. No FDA approvals or studies that show they work. Just snake oil.
When broadcasters were raking in the dollars, they had standards. Remember the NAB's Television Code? It prohibited all sorts of things like gun commercials and commercials for hard liquor. The TV Code, while voluntary, was so strict that they wouldn't allow women to be seen wearing a brassier. So you had the well endowed Jane Russell pitching Playtex bras by standing next to a mannequin displaying the product. Times have changed.
Still, I'm stunned you haven't heard the City Arms spots on KSFO.
Rich, you missed the memo - any advertising pays the rent.
ReplyDeleteI look at it very simply as their right to advertise, no more and no less. No one is compelled to buy whatever products the advertiser is offering. Just like deciding whether or not you agree or disagree with your column. No one is forced to read your blog or agree with your comments either.
ReplyDeleteHuman anatomy, firearms - playing with both pointy objects in public is lewd and very disgusting; oh, and before we harp on the Second, let's go all out and expose and capture all those who make a mockery out of the Second by their criminal activities. Once we can drastically reduce crime rates, then we will have strengthened the Second as well as find out who really uses it right and who is reckless with via rhetoric or gun play. This second most important part of the Constitution has been implemented so poorly, ineffectively, and abusively that it's been taken away from all of us citizens from zealots like the NRA and all other lobbying industries who get paranoid at the thought of perspective thinking and accountability that would actually strengthen and not weaken our rights. Before we worry about inappropriate ads (at the very least they can be reckless if overplayed in an entire day), let's reclaim the Second Amendment for all of our more sensible citizens who will implement it smartly and more carefully.
ReplyDeleteYou're wasting your time. I believe concealed carry at some level is law in all fifty states. There are quite a few that have done away with the permit (Arizona, Utah) and others (California) where "may-issue" is soon to become "shall issue" within a few years courtesy of Heller and McDonald which are established case law.
DeleteIt's NOT the United States of San Francisco! The libbies lost this one when the NRA turned back Al Gore's run at the White House in 2000. Clinton had won every single one of those states in '92 and '96 that Gore lost. The issue is dead. It's settled.
And finally, a Ruger is a shitty product. Get something worth owning.
Rich, I enjoy your blog and often you are right on target with your observations and insider info but this time you have missed the mark. You may be “outraged” that any media outlet would accept money for gun ads but as a member of the media yourself you know the one true rule – money talks. As long as the ads are paid for or the client has credit with media references then you know damn well the ads will continue to air. As they should. Any incremental attention such as your rant is more than welcomed by the ad exec who signed this biz. Since there is no recent mass shooting on our minds then the any negative press is simply spun as gun hating left behinds attempting to take away their God given right to self defense and impose a pinko commie nanny state. If this story makes it past your blog and say onto Miss Schertz’ two minute round up then you can bet Pig Virus will be springing for the ad exec’s lunch as long as it is at Lee’s Deli. This type of non-controversy is EXACTLY what KSFO needs to gain credibility and new listeners. Pissing off liberals equals dollars and with a big local election in 2015 Cumulus is in a position to potentially have both sides of the fence covered. Besides, every gun ad means one less Kids 4 Karz or annoying Allison Janney spot.
ReplyDeleteDear 10:57, when you conflate gun ownership with being "right wing" and hatred of guns with being "left wing", you conveniently leave out the truth. Fact is, millions of Americans of all political stripes own firearms, the majority of them legal, and purchased at gun shows or gun stores.
ReplyDeleteSecond Amendment advocacy among moderate Democrats is one of the hottest tickets there is. Not every political liberal is a bed wetter. My grandfather was a New Deal Democrat until the day he died but had a house full of guns. My other grandfather was a lukewarm Republican and HE had a house full of guns until he died and they were given to the kids to put away. My father is in his seventies and has two deer rifles, one of which is a Winchester 30-30 from the forties. I'll put it away as an heirloom if I'm lucky enough to end up with it.
DeleteYou're right, Christine. This is tradition.
KSFO is the on-air equivalent of World Net Daily, and with "There is No Global Warming" Sussman polluting the air waves in the AMs....what else should we expect from this sewer of fascist propaganda?
ReplyDeleteI think that Don Sherwood must be puking in his coffin right now.
Would love all the liberal nut jobs to do a little research for once. Do you know the "roots" of the gun control movement??? It's comes from when racist Democrats in the south wanted to keep guns out of the hands of African Americans. You know the same party that sent a KKK member to the senate for decades...
ReplyDeleteAhhh yes, good old Robert Byrd.
DeleteI'd rather be indicted by 12 than carried by 6.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/24/chicago-crime-rate-drops-as-concealed-carry-gun-pe/?page=all
Gee...
ReplyDeleteRemember when Billboard Magazine would rate songs as Number 1 with a Bullet?
Until we as a people can get a handle and control on butterfly's clouds, and rainbows, I find it a waste of discussion about control on guns. Master your control on the simple things, then go for a firearm control.
ReplyDelete@4:55
ReplyDeleteYou've unwittingly highlighted the stark difference between both cultures. The Swiss understand that responsible gun ownership requires discipline, accountability and yes, intelligence. Something those of your Wild West ilk (quite a few on this post) apparently lack.
I've heard the ads twice on 107.7 the bone. I probably would have heard them more if I hadn't stopped listening to them after the first ad. Took a week off and they're still running the ads.
ReplyDelete