How Sex Influenced My Ammunition Choices for Hunting the Wild Boar
So, I was scanning through the news online this morning like I always do. At some point, I caught myself reading some stupid entertainment industry gossip column. I revile that crap, and was shocked and a little puzzled at how the hell I came to be there. I clicked back to the parent page, and there was my answer… in great big, bold font, serifs and all, was that three-letter word… SEX. There were some other words with it, but I knew as soon as I saw the headline why I’d clicked on the article.
I did a quick review of the articles I’d read, and pretty much had to laugh at the browsing history. Besides the “real”, current news stories, there were three keywords common to almost every article I read:
1. Sex
2. Guns
3. Hunting
Is that revelatory or what?
Of course, this kicked off a little introspection (not always a bad thing, but not always particularly constructive either). Was it just me? Am I simply a fixated hedonist, drawn in by seductive intimations of pleasure and satisfaction on the inside pages of electronic newspapers and magazines? Or is there something bigger than me going on here?
I think I know the answer, of course. It’s not just me.
The Marketing industry has the human psyche nailed, and they manipulate us like marionettes. We’re pretty complicated creatures, but we’ve been studying ourselves and our selves for so long now that there just aren’t that many mysteries left… especially when it comes to why we do the things we do. Our motivations, by and large, are pretty transparent.
Sex sells. Of course it’s become an insidious cliché, but it’s the truth and everyone who wants to capture your attention knows it. Stick a little sex on a billboard, and folks will practically crash their cars to see what they might be missing. Antiperspirant sells because it might make you more attractive (or less repulsive) to a potential sex partner. And “sex” in a headline will make people read the most banal piece of fluff.
I guess none of this really has anything to do with hunting… or does it?
I mean, of course there’s no question that the shooting sports industry will use sex as a marketing tool at every opportunity. Have a look at the “booth babes” at the SHOT Show, or the “booby girls” selling raffle tickets at your local DU banquet. Has anyone seen the Martin Archery ads?
This is pretty blatant, and it’s also pretty clearly targeted at men, who are the biggest consumers of these products (and also, I’ll note, most prone to visual stimulation).
Hell, for that matter I’m sure most of you have noticed that the women in hunting TV are primarily knock-outs (while very few of the guys are exactly pin-up material, as Kat points out repeatedly). Is the idea really to get more women hunting, or is it to add a further incentive for the guys to watch? Murky territory there, and I’ll leave it at that…just something to ponder.
And pondering, really, is what this post is all about… pondering and experimentation. I’m curious to see what happens to the hit count on this post, as well as the search criteria that bring the hits here. I expect my SPAM filter to go off the hook. But I just have to know how many people will come here, lured by the title of this piece and despite the incongruous union of “Sex” and “Wild Boar hunting”.
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September 30th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Honestly, Phillip, I read every post you write so I would have wound up here anyway, but sex does sell. That is pretty much a no-brainer.
And I’m sure your hit count on this post will be very interesting, and the keyword searches that bring people to your site will be very interesting too.
Watch yourself!
September 30th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
A friend of mine who blogs also noted that people do a lot of searching for medical conditions. So, include some things about eczema and gall bladders if you want to get another crowd.
As for the hunting shows and women, OF COURSE they are designed for men. If you have some guy pushing 250, who has to raise the steering wheel in his F-150 to get out, and he’s ‘guiding’ some twenty-something accounting major through the ‘wilds’ of a Texas feed-plot (and this isn’t meant as a ding to feed-plots, but maybe to Texas; I’m an Okie), who is the producer trying to get? More twenty-somethings to think, “Wow! What a belly! I wish I could find a man who can polish off a whole bag of pork rinds and shotgun a Cherry Coke. You know, the kind of man who gets winded in the WalMart parking lot?”
It’s just Coors ads. It’s all just Coors ads.
September 30th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Was reading your “Sex…. article. I agree with you. Sex sells.Hunting channels have finally discovered this fact. It works. Hell I’d rather watch Tiffany shudder in a tree stand, than Jim Shockley stalk a black bear in Canada.Who wouldn’t prefer curves and eye make-up to beards and hairy ears ? She Safari vs. Primos, no contest !! I don’t think using “sex ” as a sales device is fair, but they are dealing with MEN. Well, I’ve got to go, I’ve got to watch Women’s Beach Checkers on BBc.
September 30th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Well, I clicked on this post even though I was really trying to shut down my computer for the night, so it worked!
I’m with Kat on the imbalance problem. You would NEVER see a 400-pound woman on a hunting show, even if she was the best hunter on earth. But a 400-pound man? No problem.
And Hoot … eye makeup in the blind? Gag. I understand the male obsession with big racks (both kinds), but eye makeup? Really?
September 30th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Maybe I should start adding “Sex life of the Mule Deer” to our web site. Maybe that will bring in more viewers……. No, I don’t think I would like some of them.
September 30th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Made me come and look last night, even though I was very tired and ready for bed.
Funny and sad all at the same time that we humans are sooo…. Predictable!
Might be detrimental to our survival though, the predators will be able to pattern out our movements very quickly
October 1st, 2009 at 3:06 am
Thanks for the comments folks, and welcome to the new readers/commenters! Women’s beach checkers? Man, I wish I got that channel!
As I figured, the spam filter is running like a New York Taxi meter.
By the way, relevant to Michael’s last comment…
Someone once told me that if I wanted to be a successful hunter, I needed only emulate the Mafia. The best time to make the kill is when my prey is either eating or looking for/having sex.
October 1st, 2009 at 5:59 am
Holly, Watch any Hunting Channel program with lady hunters and they all have make up on. I do realize it’s for the camera and TV exposer. My Mom used to hunt deer with us and there was no make up of any kind in the woods. And yes, big “racks” get our attention.
October 1st, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Oh, I wasn’t questioning that they have it. I was just amazed that it would be considered appealing. Compared with a beard, yes, I suppose, but …
October 1st, 2009 at 4:54 pm