H&K joins the wokeness

[RblDiver]

By now I'm sure all/most of you have heard of the Bud Light issue where they hired Dylan Mulvaney as an outreach ambassador or w/e.

I'm sure many of you have heard that Miller Lite too joined in the wokeness (though apparently before the Bud Light issue; it was only noticed afterwards), lambasting their old sexy ads as "sh!t."

Well, now Heckler & Koch has joined the woke party. They've tried to delete the tweets, but they were caught.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLOFvqFokMA

Here's a transcript of one that they deleted:

Wow- woke? Allow me to translate: objectifying women was never a good marketing strategy. In the firearms industry, that was a prominent strategy up until recently. Many industries have done that (including beer corps).

As an actual woman typing this, I'll use more words for you to comprehend: using bunnies to sell products is trash marketing. Supporting women by not doing that is good.

Now to address the rest, non-bikini parts, of the ad: seems like they should have given sources for the info they're throwing out. And, for them to isolate a huge part of their target consumer base makes no sense. Annnd, their virtue signaling ad doesn't even make me want to drink their beer. But, at least they used actual women for it (presumably).

[Oscar77]

OP:
I'm not going to watch this guys advertising over some coffee.

So TLDR: there is a tweet storm over some female claiming to be an HK employee upset over the objectification of women in advertising, specifically HK?
Who cares?
And is she actually an employee?
When was the last time HK ran a bikini clad woman ad anyways?

[.455_Hunter]

The Dillon Blue Press is in trouble.

[RblDiver]

So TLDR: there is a tweet storm over some female claiming to be an HK employee upset over the objectification of women in advertising, specifically HK?

Given that she runs their official Twitter account, I think it's obvious she is (or, soon, was) an employee. Not only was she upset at bikini ads, but she insulted people who like them.

Insulting your customer base is not a smart business move.

[kidicarus13]

Deleted. Too early to comment on this nonsense.

[BPTactical]

HK has always hated civilians.

[eddiememphis]

Many companies hire outside firms to handle advertising including social media feeds.

I wouldn't read too much into some daft twat interjecting her opinions and claiming they represent the company's viewpoint.

I especially don't take seriously anything on youtube, claiming to be news. A lot of Infowars level reporting there, looking to get views.

[Little Dutch]

That's quite a bit different than paying some mentally ill man who identifies as a pre-teen girl to be a spokesperson for your brand. Every news article about bud-light seems to be willfully ignoring the fact that Dylan identifies as a preteen. You may notice the ill-fated bud light partnership was for 365 days of girlhood, not 365 days of womanhood.

I don't agree with H&K's marketing tweets and it likely wasn't a smart move on their part, but it's not in the same league as the marketing Anheuser Bush pushed.

[earplug]

Most understand boobs without having to use google.
I have noticed that vehicle advertising specs have been dumbed down to the point I have to actually research the type of cam drive, suspension and fuel injection type.
Boob sell things

[SAnd]

HK has always hated civilians.

From another forum ~ 2007
HK. Because you suck. And we hate you.
Posted on October 9, 2007 by correia45
An open letter to the gun community from HK?s marketing department: In a world of compromises, some people put the bullets in the magazine backwards?But it doesn?t matter, because our gun is on the cover of the Rainbow Six video games. Look how cool that SEAL coming out of the water looks? If you buy a $2,000 SOCOM, you will be that cool of an operator too. And chicks will dig you.
At HK, we stuck a piston on an AR15, just like a bunch of other companies have done, dating back to about 1969. However ours is better, because we refuse to sell it to civilians. Because you suck, and we hate you.
Our
XM8 is the greatest rifle ever developed. It may melt, and it doesn?t fit any accessories known to man, but that is your fault. If you were a real operator, you would love it. Once again, look at Rainbow Six, that G36 sure is cool isn?t it? Yeah, you know you want one. And by the way, check out our new HK45. We decided that humans don?t need to release the magazine with their thumbs. If you were a really manly Teutonic operator, you would be able to reach the controls. Plus we?ve fired 100,000,000 rounds through one with zero malfunctions, and that was while it was buried in a lake of molten lava, on the moon. If you don?t believe us, it is because you aren?t a real operator.
By the way, our cheap, mass-produced, stamped sheet metal guns like the G3 and MP5 are the bestest things ever, and totally worth asinine scalpers prices, but note that cheap, mass-produced, stamped sheet metal guns from other countries are commie garbage. Not that it matters, because you?re civilians, so we won?t sell them to you anyway. Because you suck, and we hate you, but we know you?ll be back. We can beat you down like a trailer park wife, but you?ll come back, you always do.
Buy our stuff.
Sincerely
HK Marketing DepartmentHK. Because you suck. And we hate you.
-----

[Little Dutch]

From another forum ~ 2007
HK. Because you suck. And we hate you.
Posted on October 9, 2007 by correia45
An open letter to the gun community from HK?s marketing department: In a world of compromises, some people put the bullets in the magazine backwards?But it doesn?t matter, because our gun is on the cover of the Rainbow Six video games. Look how cool that SEAL coming out of the water looks? If you buy a $2,000 SOCOM, you will be that cool of an operator too. And chicks will dig you.
At HK, we stuck a piston on an AR15, just like a bunch of other companies have done, dating back to about 1969. However ours is better, because we refuse to sell it to civilians. Because you suck, and we hate you.
Our
XM8 is the greatest rifle ever developed. It may melt, and it doesn?t fit any accessories known to man, but that is your fault. If you were a real operator, you would love it. Once again, look at Rainbow Six, that G36 sure is cool isn?t it? Yeah, you know you want one. And by the way, check out our new HK45. We decided that humans don?t need to release the magazine with their thumbs. If you were a really manly Teutonic operator, you would be able to reach the controls. Plus we?ve fired 100,000,000 rounds through one with zero malfunctions, and that was while it was buried in a lake of molten lava, on the moon. If you don?t believe us, it is because you aren?t a real operator.
By the way, our cheap, mass-produced, stamped sheet metal guns like the G3 and MP5 are the bestest things ever, and totally worth asinine scalpers prices, but note that cheap, mass-produced, stamped sheet metal guns from other countries are commie garbage. Not that it matters, because you?re civilians, so we won?t sell them to you anyway. Because you suck, and we hate you, but we know you?ll be back. We can beat you down like a trailer park wife, but you?ll come back, you always do.
Buy our stuff.
Sincerely
HK Marketing DepartmentHK. Because you suck. And we hate you.
-----

Lol. Larry cracks me up. Here's the link to the post on his website.
https://monsterhunternation.com/2007/10/09/hk-because-you-suck-and-we-hate-you/

[Clint45]

HK has always been a little queer... their 80s vintage HK91 was cool though.

[RblDiver]

Well, this is a step in the right direction.

https://twitter.com/HecklerAndKoch/status/1658959377632559104

"HK does not engage in identity politics. A policy was violated. Changes were made."

Not specific enough for my tastes, but enough for me to stop charging forward with the pitchforks and torches and just stand staring at them.

[Bailey Guns]

I've never given a rat's ass about the overpriced, overhyped, overrated products that HK produces for consumers HK doesn't give a rat's ass about. So this is a non-story to me personally. If HK ceased to exist tomorrow because of their woke policies or for any other reason I'd celebrate their demise.

[Sawin]

What bikini ad for H&K? Interested parties want to know.

[leightoncash]

To me, there is a huge difference between Going Woke, and realizing that using boobs to sell guns is counterproductive in 2023. There are tons of women buying guns today, and gun companies would be stupid to piss off that growing segment. I know I'll get flack from some of the more boorish types here. But come on, you have the internet obviously. If you want to look at boobs, why do you need HK to provide it?

[bellavite1]

Well, this is a step in the right direction.

https://twitter.com/HecklerAndKoch/status/1658959377632559104

"HK does not engage in identity politics. A policy was violated. Changes were made."

Not specific enough for my tastes, but enough for me to stop charging forward with the pitchforks and torches and just stand staring at them.

That was VERY Teutonic! [ROFL1]

[Justin]

The only thing more cringe than using bikini babes to advertise your guns is virtue signaling on social media how you're against using bikini babes to advertise guns.

[BushMasterBoy]

Lets go hiking!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGoYvBzQhJQ