Re: Definition of "advertising"
Originally Posted by
reach
The idea of censoring the forums to favour the sponsors is fundamentally flawed. When I make a purchase, I want to feel good about it. I want to know that I've considered all the factors and picked the best combination of price, service and other intangibles.
What you're saying by censoring the forums is that the sponsors prefer to do business by duping their customers into buying from them by manipulating the information we have as customers. That may not be your intention, but that is the effect.
Censorship of any kind creates an atmosphere of distrust, and the sponsors are now associated with that.
Oh, bullshit....You re making a mountain out of a molehill. There is no "duping" going on here. All the companies in question have websites and toll free numbers and often send out catalogs and flyers. If you are interested in purchasing from them or comparing prices, it's dead easy to seek out the info.
For the record, NONE of our sponsors have ever complained about someone "advertising" for Walmart, Costco, Cabelas etc. The mods take it upon themselves to remove that type of thread because quite simply- it's not fair to our sponsors, who actually PAY to keep this site working. For the most part our sponsor are independents, small businesses. You know, the "little guys." They do a damn good job at personal customer service, something you won't get from the big boxes.
They see value in advertising on HBC, because it's a personal, direct connection to avid hunters. They donate prizes to our contests, they pay to keep the site up and running and the very least we can do for them is to refuse direct free advertising from their competition.
Nobody is saying you can't start a discussion about what sort of tent, pack, socks etc you should buy. Talk about Kifaru, Kirkland socks, Garmin GPS etc all you want. None of these sort of threads have ever been deleted. But when you start a thread that says "Costco is selling these sweaters for X dollars" expect it to get deleted. There is a very clear distinction between having a discussion about product quality and putting up a thread that is clearly advertising, and it's a pretty simple distinction. I'm actually surprised that some people are having a tough time grasping this concept. We've all talked about Nosler or Barnes bullets, Remington shotguns, Mystery Ranch packs etc. This is quite different from starting a thread that's sole purpose is to advertise a specific product from a specific retailer.
And about advertising for 2 for 1 burgers at A&W? Well, as I said, Wendys and McD's don't advertise here. If someone puts up a thread about some deal from a retailer that isn't in direct competition with our sponsors, we will probably let it go, as it's not being unfair to the sponsors that pay for this site. if someone feels strongly about starting threads about Costco sales, by all means, approach Costco and see if they will come on board as a sponsor. My guess is that their willingness to support hunters stops at their bottom line.
I personally think that the value of HBC extends far further than knowing that Costco is selling socks for a cheap price. I don't think I am alone here..........
Last edited by Gateholio; 10-20-2012 at 10:23 PM.
Knowledgeable shooters agree- The 375 Ruger is the NEW KING of all 375 caliber cartridges. ALL HAIL THE NEW KING!