I’m really sick of seeing YouTube and website ads that account to nothing but fear porn. Admittedly I appreciate the people who are willing to advertise firearms-related content anywhere, but I’m just sick of seeing fear porn in the firearms community. Every time I hear a company combine a listicle-style five things/reason/upgrades gun owners need to do, or they’ll die/go to jail/get eaten by bears, I roll my eyes.
It’s also guaranteed that I won’t shop with that company. Fear porn is a term that the internet has applied to any form of media that tries to capture, advertise to, or entertain people via a fear response. Specific terms are chosen and used and are used widely by most mainstream media sources. That’s why the evening news promises to tell you about the ‘Five things that are secretly killing you at home.’ (More at 11.)
Why Use Fear Porn?
Because it works. The combination of a tight script and the right imagery will trigger an emotional reaction. As people, we are emotional. Sure, we can be logical, but it’s tougher to target logic quickly and efficiently. A short soundbite can trigger an emotional response. They issue you a threat, essentially.
“If you’re a gun owner and don’t do these five things, you might as well check yourself into jail right now!”
It’s much easier to say that than to use a logical advertisement that sells the benefits of their service. You’re in a tough spot when you have 15 seconds to capture me before I hit the skip add button. That doesn’t excuse the use of fear porn in advertising or in media in general. There is a time and place to report the truth and to advise on real threats.
However, we rarely see this done responsibly. Fear porn as a whole has become part of the media experience. I can’t affect the broader media culture, but I don’t want to see it in the firearms world.
Why We Should All Hate It
Right off the bat, it’s cringy and immature. It paints firearms culture and the firearms industry as unreasonable, childish, and no better than tabloids and clickbait B.S. We should be in an industry focusing on freedom, preparedness, and responsibility. We shouldn’t have to scare people to drive sales.
That’s my reason to despise it, but there are more significant implications with this type of media consumption. Exposure to this type of fear porn and the emotional reaction it causes comes from the amygdala. Repeated and constant exposure to fear porn can lead to long-term changes in amygdala activation.
To put it simply, the more of this content you consume, the higher the likelihood your brain will make you feel anxious and emotional in regards to that content. Fear, anxiety, depression, and heightened emotional reactions aren’t what I’m looking for in my industry.
More anxiety can lead to more sales, and personally, any company that’s trying to alter my brain chemistry to make sales can kick rocks. As the greater firearms community, we should advocate for less fear and more truth, more logic, and a lot less B.S.
