Advertising and public perception

[will62]

With so much anti-knife sentiment around these days, the question must be asked if the industry is at least partially to blame? Companies that advertise things like"skull crusher pommels". The company that talks about cutting hydraulic lines and Taliban in the same ad. Does the industry need to police itself?

 

[Jesse B.]

The issue of popular sentiment regarding knives relates to a great many things, but to the extent that sentiment is negative I wouldn't place advertising too high on the list of things at fault. Certainly it's a factor however, and even though it's a minor one that doesn't mean it isn't worth taking a look at. Bottom line, IMO, is knives should never be advertised to the general public as weapons. Anti-knife sentiment really stems from the belief that knives are first and foremost dangerous weapons, and anything that can be done to reduce that misperception is worth doing.

 

[RandomAyes]

I think yes and no. As with guns, the scary looking products strike a nerve with certain people. Nevermind the fact that a Tec-9 is far less deadly than a scoped .30-06 deer rifle in the right hands. Take Balisongs for another example. They are absolutely no more lethal than a Buck 110 but balisongs are showy and everyone knows bad guys use them on tv

To some degree the skull & sawtooth knives cause negative attention but only because the sissy faction of our society reacts so strongly to such theatrics. The same theatrics we non-bedwetting types often dismiss as pointless and silly.

 

[will62]

Another factor is the "mall ninja" and their public display of knives that would be better off in a display case than in a pocket. I realize that there a number of items that contribute to this problem