In the fight over guns and their place in culture, have you seen any T.V. ads...

[Eleanors38]

mentioning products, events, or PSAs dealing with firearms?

Locally, Bold T.V., a low-power terrestrial television outlet which airs old t.v. series, movie serials and feature-length movies (often in poor and blurry condition), I have seen ads for Henry rifles. Sometimes gun shows are advertised (frequently on some radio outlets). No issue-oriented ads or PSAs. What is your experience?

Edit: I live in the Austin area.

[DonP]

1. Only on the cable Sportsman's and Outdoor channels

And the Outdoors channel is a premium channel you have to pay extra for. Not part of basic cable.

I have seen spots for Henry and an infomercial for them on other cable channels though. That's about it. Nothing on broadcast TV.

Some print ads in Popular Mechanics and the outdoor magazines, like Field & Stream etc.

[Eleanors38]

2. From what I have read, the networks have prohibitions, ranging from handgun bans through a general

Prohibition. Some claim not to ban shotguns, others prohibit showing kids with guns. Seems the greatest ad for guns is the continuous coverage of shootings, and the politics stemming therefrom.

[DonP]

3. I thought I saw the Henry Infomercial on the local network affiliate at like 3AM once

They do mass media spot buys through media brokers that buy the time cheap that's "leftover" or "fringe" and resell it a a tiny mark up, so they don't have to run all PSA's and they at least make some revenue.

So they may pay as little as $5 for a 30 second spot in Pontiac Illinois and $30 for a 3 AM spot in Chicago.

I'm not a late night kind of guy, but I actually think I recall seeing Henry Imperato, that owns Henry doing a 15 minute or so infomercial on one of the Chicago area stations in the middle of the night. It had scenes of people plinking with one of their .22's.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

4. I've seen this type of ad on my local TV recently.

This video is from way back in 1992, but I think that I saw a similar ad shown on a local TV station less than a year ago.

It also seems like I've heard that damn jingle for eternity! The show has made many appearances in my area for a long, long time with that same song played in the local ads each time.

[Eleanors38]

5. Even the "billboard" ad is as retro as Caddy chrome bumper tits.

[ManiacJoe]

6. Plenty of generic TV and radio ads for stores that sell guns and for indoor ranges.

I don't ever recall any TV ad for a specific gun or maker.