Taser International: Don't Use Abusive Sheriffs to Promote Your Weapon

It doesn't take an advanced business degree to know how important it is to choose the correct sponsor for your product. The wrong person can sink an entire advertising campaign — look at Tiger Woods. Advertisers sometimes bank on the wrong person, but they usually try to start with the right one — someone who represents their product, someone appealing, someone who sells.

Taser International seems to have missed the business lesson. They've chosen Joe Arpaio, one of the country's most notoriously inhumane sheriffs, to promote their product.

I thought tasers were supposed to save lives, not be used to terrorize immigrants, torture prisoners and split up families. Joe Arpaio is a symbol of everything tasers shouldn't be used for. We've written about his crimes here on Change.org, but don't just take our word for it. Amnesty International and the ACLU have been documenting his misconduct and he's under a federal investigation to boot: not exactly a Mr. Clean.

Taser International knows his reputation full well — the voice-over in their advertisement calls him "the world's toughest sheriff." The montage pans through one of Arpaio's tent prison compounds, including a shot of prisoners wearing the emasculating pink clothing that are an often-criticized trademark of his jails.

At the same time as Taser International boasts endorsements from the likes of Joe Arpaio, they run stories on their blog detailing how tasers save lives. They are trying to play both sides of the field, a stance that gets them into similar problems regarding the potential health risks of the weapon. They want to be seen as a safer product that saves lives — which they can — but at the same time they are trying to lure police forces and consumers by flaunting the power of their weapon.

It's time to pick a side. Taser International should dump Arpaio and stop marketing their guns as safe, easy to use, every-day, self-defense products. Tasers are serious weapons, not to be fooled around with by unqualified crackpots.

Photo Credit: Rama