What SPECIFICALLY in knife advertising annoys you?

gastonian said:
I hate the use of the word "zombie" just to sell a crappy knife.
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Ka-bar lost a good chunk of my respect when they announced their Zombie Killer line—even if their other knives haven't changed.

I'll third the mention of the "surgical stainless" fad. I also hate when people describe how much of a "mean edge" a blade can take when I'm really more concerned with edge retention, not ease of sharpening, since those two properties tend to be inversely proportional.
 
Well, as others have pointed out, Cold Steel sometimes goes just a little, bity, teeny weeny over the top. Now that I have a Rajah II, for example, I know I'm a "POWER!"

Yeah, right.
 
Most of you guys have already hit it, so I'll just echo:

Using the blade as a billboard
Starting off the description with a sentence like "We talked to the [most bad@$$ guys in the most elite military units] in the world..."
Failure to mention any critical feature (blade steel, length, lock mechanism on folder, etc)

I like some "tactical" knives (but tactical should be more about application than image).
A black blade is a black blade...could be that a person prefers the aesthetics. A knife is a tool. All weapons are tools; not all tools are weapons (or at least, not designed as such).
Personally, I don't care for too much of any one image/association in the advertising. As much as I hate pictures of guys in camo cutting through a fence, I also get tired of seeing too much of the backwoods/bushcrafting stuff too.

In general, knife advertising isn't about selling a knife; it's about selling an image through a suggested application. Show me the knife and the specs, and I'll figure out the application.
 
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Nothing.
I don't pay attention to advertising.

When commercials come on TV, well, that's what the mute button is for.
Youtube is annoying, so I don't see all the "awesome" advertising in the form of "reviews" there.

I don't need other people to tell me how to spend my money...but it they want to give me money (or free knives), that's another matter entirely.

I also accept gold, platinum, diamonds, and rare artwork.:)
For a limited time, I'll also accept your unwanted silver (act fast though, I can't do this all day).
 
I have often wondered how the SEALS, Special Forces and SWAT teams move around at all with the at least 300 pounds of surgical steel tango elimination devices clipped to their 5.1 tactical pants pockets, if any one of these "operators" carried every knife they were advertised to carry, the only operating going on would be on their backs from carrying access weight.
 
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hunter s thompson said:
I have often wondered how the SEALS, Special Forces and SWAT teams move around at all with the at least 300 pounds of surgical steel tango elimination devices clipped to their 5.1 tactical pants pockets, if any one of these "operators" carried every knife they were advertised to carry, the only operating going on would be on their backs from carrying access weight.
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Plus, with how many knives are supposedly carried by special forces, the USA would have more special forces than China has people!:D

Advertising: it's only good if you're the one getting paid.
 
How about this one? Knives that you are supposed to buy because the com nay was started by former special ops troops (in some cases, alleged former special ops troops) While said people may have had some experience carrying some kind of edge tool on their gear and I am saying that experience in one line of work can't transfer over to another, let me ask you this. if you were being held hostage by the Taliban, would you want Bob Loveless or the guys from SEAL Team 6 to come rescue you?:D
 
jdm61 said:
How about this one? Knives that you are supposed to buy because the com nay was started by former special ops troops (in some cases, alleged former special ops troops) While said people may have had some experience carrying some kind of edge tool on their gear and I am saying that experience in one line of work can't transfer over to another, let me ask you this. if you were being held hostage by the Taliban, would you want Bob Loveless or the guys from SEAL Team 6 to come rescue you?:D
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I'll pick Seal Team 6, the supposed special ops thing really makes me mad, especially when you were really only a private and have embellished your military service way above and beyond the call of duty.
 
They invented the PVR for managing advertising, by skipping past the commercials via the Commercial Management button on the remote. Use that function regularly and as often as needed to elliminate the time consuming distracting menace.
 
My biggest annoyance is with custom makers who have horribly dated websites that give you no indication if they're presently working, taking orders, or real information about their knives. There's something comforting about a well designed website with up to date information that will keep customers much happier.

Even worse are makers who dont have websites. How the hell do us novices to the arcane world of custom knives get a Demko?
 
imbryan715 said:
im not buying my knife to slam into a tree and use as a step ladder
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I'll admit to using my Ka-Bar for a step to reach something that had got caught up in a tree and didn't have a ladder with me. I jammed it in as deep as I could into the tree, almost up to the guard and used it as a step. It didn't hurt the knife at all.


As far as knife advertisements, I don't really see the point in them most of time. Most us can simply look at a given knife and tell if its going to suit our needs or not.
 
Both the "survival" and "tactical" labels.
Most are created by persons with little or no experience in either, and a survival knife might as well be used as a tent stake if you dont know what your doing.
The fact that you have a knife with you in either situation and more importantly....skill, are the bigger factors.
If i only have a neck knife and crap goes horribly wrong...that just became the best friggin knife in the world to me.

Secondly the "designed with input from secret squirrels"
It seems to be the holy grail of mass marketing to be able to say an operator or operators favor this knife over that, or helped design this or that. They use what they need based on mission criteria and it varies by individual, so it changes. Yes stuff gets issued, but if it sucks it gets traded off to the guy who just read the latest advertisement in a magazine.
Generally an individual or group will seek out a custom or semi custom maker to design and build a knife based on need. That is well deserved by the maker and should be advertised, becaused it is based on fact.but the magazine commando endorsement is almost insulting.
 
i hate advertising videos with a fat man in tight shorts throwing spears and tactical darts & whatnot and bending blades and chopping stuff -- pathetic
 
A folder that has the latest tantospeardropclippoint blade with an overall 9 inch length and weighs 47 pounds advertised as an EDC. Wait... I might have some of those. I guess the ads must work. :eek:
 
When a I knife has someone's name stamped on it to make it sell better. Like the bear grylls knife, or less stroud knife. It just puts a bad name on the company for me. It's like they can't sell them so they put a famous name hoping it will sell.
 
hunter s thompson said:
I'll pick Seal Team 6, the supposed special ops thing really makes me mad, especially when you were really only a private and have embellished your military service way above and beyond the call of duty.
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I don't get the whole special forces/military association. For collectors I can understand wanting to buy an issued item with a well documented historical association, but, in general those in the military are less likely to know anything relevant with respect to knives. Most of them tend to be young, they have a logistic support train that far exceeds anything available to the average joe, many don't even carry knives or they carry whatever limited piece of junk they are issued or allowed to carry. The average member here has much more experience with a wide variety of knives and likely decades of additional experience doing what real people, including those in Military/Spec Ops, do with knives...that is opening mail, cutting cords, trimming small sticks, cleaning game, filleting fish, and ocassioanlly cutting oneself.

n2s
 
Trying to make the blade steel sound really cool, without identifying the steel.
 
Misanthropia said:
My biggest annoyance is with custom makers who have horribly dated websites that give you no indication if they're presently working, taking orders, or real information about their knives. There's something comforting about a well designed website with up to date information that will keep customers much happier.

Even worse are makers who dont have websites. How the hell do us novices to the arcane world of custom knives get a Demko?
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I cannot cite a source, but I remember reading that Mr. Demko is no longer taking orders.
 
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