You’ve heard the old saying “timing is everything.” While it may not be completely accurate in the media industry, timing certainly is important.
The National Rifle Association recently provided a ripe example about the importance of timing in product release and public relations.
The NRA released this week a target practice app geared toward children ages 4 and up.
Target Practice users can test their skills at a variety of ranges and with weapons of their choice. They also can pay to unlock more powerful guns like an AK47.
You can read more about the app on Gizmodo. The site even points out in the headline that the shooting game is for “kids the same age of Sandy Hook victims.”
PRNewser criticized the timing of the release, saying:
“The release is poorly timed, insensitive and completely tone deaf to the ways millions of people in America and beyond feel about guns–especially guns and children. We’ve all become far too familiar with the violence, the wasteful loss of innocent life, and the image of individuals with assault rifles marching down the halls of an elementary school.”
I’m not certain there’s ever a time when an app like this one, geared toward such young children, wouldn’t be criticized. Add to the situation the President’s gun control proposal released today, and you have a major public relations problem.
Let’s Talk Nerdy!
What do you think? From a media standpoint, is the timing of the app’s release unethical? Would a different release date have made a difference?
KoriCasey says
I do think the timing is unethical, simply because it was released around the anniversary of the Sandyhook Elementary School Shooting. I also think it’s wrong to target children as young as four, when video games such as Call of Duty are for mature audiences. I don’t think a child of any age has any business using a target practice app, or any other app or game involving shooting. I find this extremely inappropriate.