Imagine you are a manufacturer who produces an electronic device that is rather dangerous. Now imagine your product has recently received some bad press – some really bad press – involving a certain incident at a Vancouver airport.
How would you go about building good will with consumers at CES?
Well, if you’re Taser, you start by bringing in Playboy Playmates to sign autographs at your booth.
I am not making this up.
Taser, the company that makes the electroshock stun gun devices of the same name, is actually a regular exhibitor at CES. In fact, this is their 14th year at the show, according to the company’s VP of communications Steve Tuttle. CES was actually the first trade show at which Taser's devices were shown.
So there they were; Miss June 2004 Hiromi Oshima, Miss October 2005 Amanda Paige, Miss October 2006 Jordan Monroe and Miss September 2007 Patrice Hollis, all decked out in Taser t-shirts, signing autographs beside a sign that read: “If you love her, protect her.”
(The Playmates are here because Taser actually sponsors the Playboy racing team – they race cars, not Playmates, I'm told)
What’s new at the Taser booth?
Designer colours on the company’s new C2 device. Perhaps you’re not a fan of the classic black model and would like your stun gun to match your shoes, in that case you can choose from fire engine red, blue, silver or pink – which is actually the company’s biggest seller. Each of those cost $349, but the leopard print model – again, I am not making this up – costs $379.
“It’s purely for fashion statement,” Mr. Tuttle said. “Because this [he gestures towards the Playmates] is our target audience,” Mr. Tuttle said.
He’s expecting the leopard print model to be a big seller in the run up to Valentine’s Day.
In addition to the cute colours, the company also unveiled a new Taser holster which features a built-in 1 GB MP3 player … I’m going to refrain from making a joke about AC/DC here.
By including a music player in the holster, “you’re more likely to carry it, and it will be there when you need it,” Mr. Tuttle said.
In light of the horrifying death of Robert Dziekanski -- the Polish immigrant who died after being shocked by four Mounties equipped with Taser devices at a Vancouver airport in October -- the idea of a stun gun company exhibiting their wares alongside high definition televisions and DVD players at an electronics show might seem slightly disturbing to Canadians. However, one must remember that unlike Canada – where only some law enforcement officers can carry Tasers – most U.S. states allow civilians to carry them for protection. Taser promotes them as a means of self defence and targets women in its advertising.
In some parts of the U.S., the company is even helping to organize Taser parties, which are basically the same as Tupperware parties, only at the end of the night you’re buying a stun gun instead of something that stores leftover lasagna.
According to Mr. Tuttle, Tasers are now being used by more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies in 44 countries. Four thousand of those agencies have put a device into the hands of every officer.
“We are revolutionizing law enforcement,” he said. “Revolutions come with learning curves, they come with pain and they come with lessons learned. The only way to get through that revolution is to fight the good fight, and we’re doing that."
“And we’re winning.”
