Gun brands used Call of Duty and Instagram to reach kids, Sandy Hook Promise says

For just over a decade, gun brands have attempted to reach younger audiences—often those in their early teens—by showing up on their favorite social media platforms and entertainment consoles, according to a new report published by Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit foundation focused on preventing gun violence. In one example recently uncovered through a lawsuit filed by parents of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, Remington Arms struck a deal with Activision to put several of its semi-automatic firearms in the publisher’s Call of Duty video games. A person familiar with the deal previously told the Washington Post that Remington’s motive was “brand exposure.” Activision declined to comment on the deal. Remington Arms did not respond to a request for comment. And while evidence suggests that video games have become less popular in recent years for gun marketers, social media has only become more popular. YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are the three most widely used platforms amongst teens, and are attracting weapons brands accordingly, the report notes. Most platforms prohibit paid advertisements to sell or promote weapons, so gun brands typically opt to team with influencers, per the report. Some brands strike overt partnerships with tactical enthusiasts, who openly promote products to their communities. So-called “kidfluencers” occupy a gray area in this category, sometimes promoting lethal weapons, other times promoting recreational weapons like paintball guns. Still, most states require buyers of these latter weapons to be at least 18 years old. Autumn Fry is one such kidfluencer, a 10-year-old girl who is the face of Autumn’s Armory, a weapons-focused Instagram account with over 50,000 followers. Fry has done promotions for firearm coating companies, gun shops and flamethrower manufacturers. Her posts often target fellow children by incorporating relevant popular culture. One recent video showed Fry dressed head to toe in tactical gear, promoting a gel ball gun. The caption reads: “If you think Nerf is fun, wait till you get your hands on gel ball.” Another post drawing on interest in rifles hinged on the use of an iCarly meme. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Autumn Fry (@autumns_armory) Tie-ups between gun brands and influencers often lack transparency around their contractual parameters, according to the report. In one example cited in the Sandy Hook Promise report, arms manufacturer Daniel Defense posted a photo on Instagram of rapper Post Malone holding one of its weapons, although no reference to an official partnership was mentioned. Daniel Defense did not respond to a request for comment. Determining what is paid and unpaid promotion on social media has always been difficult, but the stakes are higher when the audience is children who will have a harder time distinguishing an advertisement. This issue does not affect only social media platforms: Roblox was the target of a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the FTC and advertising watchdog TINA over its vague policies around advertising to children. The platform has since updated those policies. A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Instagram, told Ad Age, “This is an adversarial space, and we often see instances of groups or individuals taking on new tactics to avoid detection and evade our policies and enforcement — which is why we’re constantly evaluating and updating our approach." In addition to prohibiting the sale of weapons, ammunition and explosives, Meta’s advertising standards also prohibit the promotion of such items, including ads for weapon modification accessories. Another category of influencers that gun brands often tie into are women known as “gun bunnies.” These models pose with weapons in an attempt to make them look sexier and thus more appealing to men and, increasingly, younger boys, according to the report. “The implicit promise is that [boys] will be more attractive to women by having these weapons,” Rachel Kay Albers, a brand strategist, said in the report. And while gun brands are seeking out younger audiences, they are not the only parties on the hook. Direct partners, such as Activision, play a role in making weapons and warfare appealing to children. Activision this week launched an ad campaign behind the tagline, “There’s a soldier in all of us," which has been previously lambasted for encouraging a frivolous attitude towards war and violence. The Sandy Hook Promise report also indicated how social media companies, by virtue of their aggressive algorithms, may be exacerbating the process by which young users are exposed to violent content. Sandy Hook Promise created a TikTok account for a hypothetical 13-year-old boy, and after a few likes, demonstrated how quickly such a user could be inundated by gun-related material. TikTok and YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The report comes on the heels of Sandy Hook Promise’s latest ad campaign, in which a slew of comedians chillingly make jokes about gun violence.

Gun brands used Call of Duty and Instagram to reach kids, Sandy Hook Promise says

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