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Old 04-04-2011, 04:05 AM
mjp28 mjp28 is offline
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Default BUY A SATELLITE DISH, GET A GUN.....OR PIZZA? It's for real.

BUY A SATELLITE DISH, GET A GUN.....OR PIZZA?

An independent RadioShack store in Montana is standing firm, refusing RadioShack Corp. headquarters' demand to stop giving away a firearm with each satellite dish sale -- a 5-month-old promotion that has proved widely popular and garnered national attention.

"Dish sales have tripled since October," when the promotion began, store manager Fabian Levy told the Star-Telegram on Thursday. "We got a call from a man in Texas asking if we knew of a RadioShack store with the same offer where he lives." (The answer is no.)


"My phone has been ringing nonstop," Levy said from Hamilton, Mont., 40 miles south of Missoula. "I've received calls from an air conditioning company in West Virginia and a mattress store in, I think, Minnesota that wants to run similar gun giveaways."

Levy says his franchised Dish Network sales are separate from his store's Radio-Shack business.

"We've got the contract right in front of us, and it doesn't say anything about this violating any [RadioShack franchise] rules," he said.

RadioShack spokesman Eric Bruner acknowledged that the store, owned by Steve Strand, is an independent dealer, but the Fort Worth-based electronics retailer ordered an end to the gun giveaway, The Associated Press reported.

The company did not respond to Star-Telegram requests for comment.

Bruner told the AP, "This offer is not consistent with our recommended marketing practices for independent dealers." He said the chain is "in discussions with the dealer to end the promotion."

"I'm not doing anything wrong," Strand told Hamilton's Ravalli Republic.

"RadioShack has taken the position that we're tarnishing their brand image with the promotion," Strand told the paper. "I don't think this is a negative impact. I don't think they understand the way of life in Montana."

After RadioShack complained, the Montana store did replace its marquee sign, which read: "Protect yourself with Dish Network. Sign up now, get free gun." Its new sign touts the promotion website, www.getagun.net.

The Republic's initial story went viral on the Internet last week, but RadioShack did not react until Tuesday, the AP reported.

Levy said Thursday that the store has yet to receive a formal letter from RadioShack demanding the giveaway end, just a phone call. In the meantime, the publicity has won the store all kinds of new business, he said.

Dish buyers get a certificate redeemable for a Russian-made Baikal shotgun worth $114 or a $124 Hi-Point .380 caliber pistol, redeemable at Frontier Guns & Ammo in Victor, Mont., 12 miles from Hamilton.


Levy wouldn't say how many certificates the store has handed out, but Frontier Guns & Ammo's manager, Dustin Harris, says the hoopla has helped his business, too.

"It's absolutely increased sales," Harris said.

People who don't want a gun can get a $50 certificate for pizza instead.


The gun promotion is reminiscent of a scene in Michael Moore's 2001 documentary Bowling for Columbine, which purports to show him immediately rewarded with a free hunting rifle after opening a new bank account in Michigan. Actually, the bank arranges for customers to pick up their firearm at a gun store some distance away.
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