How gun giant Remington used Call of Duty to promote weapons to younger players
Newly released documents have given us a rare inside look at how gun manufacturers have tried to use videogames to promote their wares to younger people - specifically, players of Activision's original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, released in 2009. The memos and emails in question are from now-defunct US gun company Remington Arms, which was once part of the conglomerate Freedom Group. They've been disclosed by a lawyer as part of legal proceedings launched by the parents of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, in which 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people using a Remington-made AR15 rifle.
According to the docs, which have been written up by the Wall Street Journal, Remington and Freedom Group pursued deals with videogame publishers over the late 2000s and early 2010s, hoping to reach a new generation of potential firearms owners. One undated Freedom Group "Gaming Strategy" memo notes that "with increasing urbanization and access to shooting/hunting areas in decline, a primary means for young potential shooters to come into contact with firearms and ammunition is through virtual gaming scenarios." According to the memo, Freedom Group execs believed promoting their weapons in videogames would "help create brand preference among the next generation," and allow the company to "win our fair-share of these young consumers".
"It really is irony [sic] that video games that just a decade ago were considered the number one threat to gaining new shooters is perhaps now the number one draw," Remington's then-vice president of product management for firearms, John C. Trull, wrote in a 2012 email, quoted in the WSJ report.
As revealed by the disclosed documents, Remington signed a
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