We’ve posted a bit of press over the last week about SilencerCo’s new shotgun silencer, the Salvo 12. For those not in the know, the Salvo 12 is a silencer made for your scattergun, and it is making waves, just not the auditory kind. But as the video above shows, SilencerCo isn’t a one-trick pony. They’re adept at making stunning marketing videos, with solid concepts, that appeal to a much broader audience than your “typical” gun owner. Or at least I thought.
SilencerCo is actually no stranger to slickly produced videos. Their “Wizard Staff” video released for April Fool’s day was a masterpiece in my opinion. It tapped right into the whole fantasy genre that the Tolkien novels (and subsequent movies) have exploited so successfully over the last decade. At the time of this writing, the Wizard video had a touch over 62,000 views. Not bad, but nothing compared to the 110,000 views Johnny Dronehunter has received since it posted on the 29th.
The Johnny DroneHunter video isn’t about the Magpul-equipped shotgun or the funky shaped silencer. The JDH video is about one man trying to show off his tattoos whilst driving a beater through the desert. But those damn drones just won’t leave him alone. Drones and spying are kind of a hot topic right now, and there are plenty of people who wouldn’t mind blasting one out of the sky, even if doing so isn’t sanctioned. I felt like that hatred of domestic spying would be the thing that would help this video concept appeal to a broader audience. And when I found this video on Vice, Slate, Uproxx, and KnowYourMeme I figured that it was working. But then I read the comments sections on those websites and showed it to some non gun friends. My non gun friends said JDH was interesting, but didn’t make them want to go out and buy a silencer. Most of them felt that the concept probably appeals to your typical gun guy, upset at the government for their overreach in arenas like domestic spying, but, it wasn’t really for them. So perhaps I’m completely wrong, and that traffic the video is seeing is from people pointing and laughing.
Either way, Remington or Winchester or Saiga or Mossberg could have just as easily made this ad, and it probably would have done just fine. But SilencerCo bet big, put up what I think is a solid concept, and hopefully brought silencers further out of the shadows and more into the mainstream. I dig it. A lot. And I hope they make more like it.
You have “non-gun friends”? That’s too bad, I have either purged or converted all of mine to our religion.
Here here!
The online ads a great & entertaining & all, but I still can’t own one in my state. The money needs to go to lobbyists to push through pro suppressor legislation.
So they’re marketing it to outlaw bikers who drive old caddies?
Wat?
More likely to young doods who play Grand Theft Auto waaaayyyy too much
There is no such thing as too much Grand Theft Auto.
+1
The hilarious situations possible in that game are endless.
Drones and Tannerite-type explosives seems to be a wasteful combo.
Dramatic, but wasteful.
Love the drone hunting! That was the best part.
….sometime later that day…
Sheriff: “Johnny… what have I told you about shooting down drones?!”
Johnny:….
Sheriff: “Now, I get that it’s kinda your thing..but these things are expensive.. people are starting to complain!.. If I get ONE MORE complaint, I’m gonna hafta arrest you…. are we clear?!”
Jonny: “Yes, Sheriff…”
Sheriff: “Now get out of here! – and don’t let me catch you shooting any more drones… I got my eye on your YouTube channel!!”
🙂
If anyone needs any help imagining the sheriff, just think Andy Bellefleur from true True Blood:
Image
Video (NSFW!)
😉
“Stunning marketing videos”
Really?
Nothing “stunning” about this video, just stupid.
You are just a wet blanket on everything, aren’t you? Go watch some of their other videos, they really put a lot of work into them. I think their videography is excellent.
Well who crapped in your coffee and ran over your puppy?? -_-
They actually do make some pretty awesome videos…there were a few that I watched over and over.
My faves are still Dynamic Pie Concepts, though…”Sweep The Leg Drill” and “Reduced Size Target Systems” rock!
I guess I am one of the few that enjoyed watching that
Hey, anything that involves a shottie and blowing up stuff is ok in my book. Especially on a Friday afternoon!
So, was he being stalked by animal rights activists?
I just like funny ads.
Is it just me, or am I not seeing the deeper meaning behind these, trying to subconsciously lure me into buying something 😛
In all seriousness, someone who doesn’t want to buy a silencer probably won’t be swayed by an ad. These are more about getting the silencerco name out than anything else.
I dig that magpul furniture.
My poor Wingmaster was stripped of it’s glorious wood by the previous owner, and replaced with poopy plastic.
I’ve found several nice sets of vintage 870 wood on ebay, the classic early version before the `RKW bowling pin’ finish of the 1970’s.
Anyway, the dude is in the middle of nowhere in the desert, what does he need a suppressor for? Except, that large chunk of metal on the muzzle end probably helps prevent aiming too high.
Non-gun friends are not the target audience. Non-gun friends don’t buy guns. They certainly are not going to buy a silencer. This ad works very well for “gun guys” who are on the edge about whether to buy a silencer or not.
I’d like to see the Salvo 12 on a Kel-Tec KSG and the AA-12 “CQB” model with the 14″ barrel.
How about a The Truth About Guns review shootout pitting the Salvo 12 against the purpose-built Red Jacket KSG suppressor on a KSG host? It might be a little tricky to get a KSG that is reliable and not a lemon due to Kel-Tec’s infamous quality control, but it could be worthwhile for such potent home defense potential. I’d rather have the suppressed SBS AA-12, but I’m not anticipating seeing that on the legal civilian market.
of course these are ironic, and the Techy Millenials get it. It will draw fussy condemnation from a few FUDDs and panty twisting cries of pretend outrage from the FakeBook PTA mommys of MDA, but thats THE POINT….
Free viral siz and buzz. All goes in the vast google search algorithm and pops up Silencero when someone is ready to buy.
And I would, just for fun, if not for my Klucktarded Kommie Kool Kid Klub in Sackatomatoes…
(sigh) this is one of the few times I envy European shooters. Hearing conservation devices are common at indoor ranges there, I understand…
While yiu are rushing to embrace UN control of our treaties, environmental strangulation of our small businesses, and otherwise tax us all out of our livelihoods, here in CA, and look the other way while scammers in SF smuggle guns, couldnt you at least let us have a few toys for boys, Gov Moonbeam?
Do it for the Children!
I was entertained… AND now I want one of those shottie silencers now.
Well played, SilencerCo.
Lol, for a split second I thought Johnny Dronehunter was Jason Statham. Or, as my wife calls him, “that British Bruce Willis dude.”
What do they say….you’ve abandoned all reason when you engage in self-parody?
Not that I don’t enjoy a creative video, with no appreciable premise for the sake of entertainment, but this sounds like the un-clever way of marketing a product that you supposedly want people to take seriously.
I guess when your primary inspiration for creating a suppressor for a shotgun, is a movie where that weapon was used by a drug cartel enforcer Hell-bent on murder and mayhem, you naturally would prefer to show it being used in any other scenario, even a comical one involving the shooting inanimate objects, like drones.
How does a Silencer work, anyway? Sorry if it seems like a rookie question, but I really haven’t used a silencer. Ever. (I can hardly plink these days…) So how DO they work?
They temporarily contain and cool a portion of the rapidly expanding propulsion gasses as (or before) they exit the muzzle, allowing them to leak out after the projectile(s) leave the barrel, reducing the pressure wave that causes the loud sound of the shot.
Or something close to that.
Have you become a member of the ASA which silencerco and other manufactures donate to which helps lobby with great success to legalize silencer rights in all states?
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