Company Uses Jennifer Hudson's Family Tragedy to Promote Bedside Shotgun Rack
Unlike Insensitive Capitalists of Tragic Events like the Deaths of Elvis Presley and Princess Diana, Company President Issued a Press Release Using Hudson Family Grief to Pitch Product
The Chicago Tribune reports that the press release was titled "Could a Bedside Shotgun Rack Have Saved Jennifer Hudson's Family from Tragic Death?" The shotgun rack is designed to fit between the mattress and box spring of a bed and is called The Back-Up. Peters adds in the press release that The Hudson family is just one of too many Americans gunned down in their homes.
Peters told the Chicago Tribune reporter that he did not issue the press release to capitalize on the Hudson family murders but suspected it might offend some people. In Peters quote to the Chicago Tribune, he says, "Just having a gun rack offends a lot of people."
Prior to the press release using the Hudson family tragedy to promote the shotgun rack, Peters was interviewed on Fox News about the product. You can view a YouTube video of that interview by clicking here. Peters purchased the patent for the product and doesn't know exactly how many units have been sold, but says the product is selling.
The commercialization of Princess Diana after her tragic death was seemingly as insensitive, but guardians of her name and likeness quickly established licensed use of products bearing her name and picture to raise money for her charities. The same commercialization protection was used by Priscilla Presley to build the Elvis Presley estate for Lisa Marie Presley. While the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund is not without criticism, fans of both Elvis Presley and Princess Diana are willing to pay for memorabilia that memorializes these larger than life icons. Proceeds from these commercial ventures appropriately benefit the family members and their charities.
If A. John Peters really felt sorry for the Jennifer Hudson family and wanted to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening to other American families, Peters would donate all the proceeds from the sales of The Back-Up shotgun rack to the Hudson family and let them work with a charity to prevent unlawful use of guns in America or work with charities that help prevent domestic violence. A. John Peters: you should be ashamed of yourself!
Sources:
Chicago Tribune Story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-talk-shotgun-29-oct29,0,264779.story
Company Press Release Cited in Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-081030-hudson-gunrack-press,0,6839100.htmlstory
YouTube of Company Owner on Fox News
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Jxq2dN0E8
CNN - The Commercialization of a Princess
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1998/08/diana/diana.commerce/index.html
Published by Aly Adair
Aly Adair is an Air Force Veteran with a career in teaching and educational publishing. Aly has an MBA and is a former small business owner. View profile
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17 Comments
Post a CommentMoney over human compassion! It is a shame how far this society has come. Nothing is sacred anymore! Thanks for sharing.
Great article. How sad greedy people will do anything for a dollar.
Good coverage. Besides the obvious ethical issues, I don't think legally they could use her name that way, since it implies endorsement.
That is indeed, insensitive :) Sheri
Good reporting. Horrible idea from that company. Some people have no shame.
How aweful but super reporting!
Sickening behaviour. Excellent reporting.
No matter how they try to justify it, they are using the tragedy to make money. Thanks for the excellent write up.
This is awful.
Good article. Another one I like is by this guy - he look into it in more depth and doesn't hold back:
http://pressreleaseprblog.com/2008/10/28/why-the-backup-shotgun-rack-company-deserve-all-the-bad-pr-they-can-get/