Fear Mongering:
I get excited whenever I see a MrColionNoir video, but it’s quite predictable what the message is going to be now since he’s signed on with the NRA. Yea NRA we get it… guns aren’t bad and neither are gun owners. Are we THAT insecure as gun owners that we have to keep addressing an audience which isn’t even listening? Sure there might be the occasional case of a convert who used to hate guns but now loves them, because someone he/she knew showed them some of these factual videos. Most of the time though these types of videos are just preaching to the choir I’d assume. BRING MRCOLIONNOIR’S SIGNATURE FUNNY VIDS BACK.
Thoughts?
Comments
11 responses to “The NRA Should Quit Making Videos For The Anti-Gun Crowd”
I’ve been smoking, drinking bleach, and putting fires out with my face for years now with no ill effect.
My new affordable healthcare act doctor continues to fear mongering me about these things.
I love the subtle references to modern pop culture that you always include in this blog, the fact that im not the only stylish, witty, drake bumping, gun nut out there makes me feel better! LOL
haha thanks! I’m glad at least some people notice / get the jokes.
Same here! Its what keeps me coming back when I’m ridin’ round wit dat nina
I usually distrust people who tuck their ears up into their hat. Or if I can’t see their eyebrows. I guess this guy is the execption. He usually has good points, but I totally agree with your “preaching to the choir” statement.
+1 for preaching to the choir… no opinion on ear placement haha
He may often “preach to the choir”, but I think there are a lot of people that can benefit from his videos, I know I did. They’re great for people on the fence or not too experienced. And the “choir” can use his videos to convert the uneducated, I showed a few to my sister and it helped her to understand why I value guns as much as I do.
I agree with this.
Since signing on to the NRA, his videos have gotten some cool graphics, but they seem to be focused a lot more on what someone referred to as ‘sick burn bro!’ style arguments that reinforce existing anti-gun points. But what he’s lost is some of the friendly accessibility he once had. His older vids make similar points, but because they’re delivered without graphics and in a more conversational manner, the subject matter was a lot more friendly and accessible to a non-gun-owner, and could be used in an argument without making such a person feel attacked.
But this reflects the NRA’s strategy. They’ve been preaching to the choir for 20+ years! When they brought Noir and their other commentators on I’d hoped that was signalling a shift toward outreach, but unfortunately that hasn’t happened.
Now I get that motivating your base is important. But there are two problems with this:
1. It gets old. NRA’s strategy of high-urgency messaging has a downside- people get used to it. It’s like the boy who cried wolf, when everything is an emergency, the real emergencies lose their impact and people tune out.
2. We need to think bigger, about winning the WAR instead of this or that battle. A motivated base may be able to put out local brush fires, but where is the long term strategy? I don’t see it.
If we are going to try and win the WAR, then it doesn’t matter how energized the base is, they won’t be enough. To win the war we need moderates, and liberals, and Democrats. These people are easy to win over, just reach out a bit, show them some respect (don’t make them feel attacked), and provide a bit of education. Liberals aren’t anti-freedom. They just (largely) don’t understand why the 2nd Amendment is important. Explain it to them and a LOT of them will become pro-gun very quickly.
Once that happens, you’ve won the war, because if being anti-gun means zero Republicans and only half the Democrats will vote for you, then gun control becomes a fringe issue.
And that’s where people like Noir come in. Noir’s early vids were more educational and conversational than assertive or argumentative. They were the kind of thing you could send to an anti-gun friend when they ask why you own a gun. And that’s the sort of thing we need more of, if we are to win the war.
+1 for common sense.
I agree, was just talking to my friend about this yesterday actually. I miss the days of walking dead reviews, gun reviews, and funny intelligent arguments that were more casual. I hate when people talk about bands or rappers that they liked before they got famous and now that they have a larger audience they think they “sold out” and no longer pay attention to them, but I honestly miss his old stuff (and I mean that in the least hipster way possible). I’m pumped he has gotten famous and is obviously making money/getting free shit doing this, its nice to see someone come up the way he did. I just don’t enjoy the new videos as much. Also after watching the trailer for Noir, I have a feeling its gonna be kind of awkward and bad. I hope not, but it didn’t look promising.
Yeah I got the same vibe from the trailer. I’m sure it’ll be a decent show, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be sort of a pro-gun circlejerk. A real outreach/educational show would be great, but I don’t see it in a talk show format.
Of course who knows maybe I will be proven wrong, I hope so.