Dealerships have offered all kinds of incentives for buying a new car or truck, including locale-specific perks like snowboards for mountain areas. A Florida car dealership is offering up its version of a used-truck incentive: a free AK-47 assault rifle with purchase. A Missouri car dealership offered a similar promotion last year--the CNN interview, gone wrong, priceless.
The “Nations Trucks in Sanford” truck buyer promotion began, fittingly, on Veteran’s Day and used truck buyers can get the “bonus” gun through the end of November.
Qualifying truck buyers are required to pass a background check before being able to utilize the $400 gun shop voucher from the car and truck dealership. For those who pass the background check, customers can use the voucher cash toward other firearms—or can request a check for the amount instead.
The truck dealership admits fielding some complaints about the AK-47 rifle deal, a promotion which General Sales Manager Nick Ginetta acknowledges is controversial, but says: "My buyer is absolutely a gun owner, no question." Apparently the Florida dealership’s manager knows his customer—since its Veteran’s Day start, the 2010 AK-47 gun promotion has more than doubled sales of trucks at the “Nations Trucks in Sanford” car dealership location.
The MAX Motors car dealership owner knows his customer too--and it appears to be a similar one.
Nothing beats the "PR" publicity coverage for the 2009 that the Butler, Missouri, MAX Motors car dealership received from CNN. There couldn't have been more of a mis-match than the female news anchor interviewer, in New York, and the rural car dealership's owner.
The absolute must-see video footage includes what becomes a compelling argument on behalf of the MAX Motors' car dealership's owner: when questioned by a CNN news anchor, whom apparently has real feelings pertaining to gun legislature, the conversation quickly turns to the car dealer's defense of guns and questions like: "how 'bout that guy that had him and his wife killed, who had the 12 children...with the seven guys coming through the door. I guarantee you, he wishes he'd had an AK-47, as those 'maggots' busted through his door and slaughtered him and his wife in front of his children."
"The purpose of guns like AK-47's is self-defense...the only 911 call I need is chambering a round," says the car dealership's owner.
The irritated female anchor responds: "You know, I grew up in rural America too. We had guns in our homes but they weren't AK-47's--to which the dealership's owner pauses, bites a lip, and cuttingly responds: "How long ago was that?". The anchor, who doesn't seem prepared to readily provider her age, provides a vague "when i was a teenager...20 years ago...30 years ago."
Just when it seems like things can't get worse, the PR promotion then turns to the subject of meth--an unplanned route, at least for the news anchor. The car dealership's owner begins a personal rant about the people who've "lost their souls," telling the anchor: "they [meth addicts] don't care about you, they don't care about me. All they care about is dope". The path becomes darker and darker as the CNN anchor says "well, I understand about evil in the world...I'm just questioning a semi-assault weapon to protect yourself"
The CNN anchor then slaughters the dealership's motto which she says is "God, Guts, Guns and American," asking the owner why he came up with that. After a long pause, the owner corrects the CNN anchor, saying "actually, it's 'God, Guts, Guns and American Pick-Up Trucks" and says "because we sell cars". The anchor says "Right, but you include God in that...and some might wonder why 'God' is included in a motto that also includes guns."
After a sufficient pause, the dealership's owner responds with "You don't have a problem with God, do ya?"
After a heated back-and-forth banter, the MAX Motors car dealer says: "You don't think God wants us to defend ourselves? I'm confused."
Things get better and better, as the CNN anchor even heads down the path of literally saying: "We could do the 'what would Jesus do'? Would he carry a gun?" The finale turns into a compromise that Jesus wouldn't, in fact, have carried a gun--since guns weren't yet invented, but that Jesus was so powerful he wouldn't have needed one.
The CNN video interview with the Missouri MAX Motors car dealership is nearly five minutes long, worth watching every second.