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COUNCIL BLUFFS — Classic Chevrolet Cadillac's new advertising campaign may as well be “buy a car, have a blast!”
The dealership's November advertising campaign is “Bang meets Buck!” Customers buying a new car or truck get a gift certificate to purchase a rifle or shotgun.
“It kind of ties into hunting season and Americans' right to bear arms,” said Dave Granade, the general sales manager for the dealership.
The promotion appears to be working. The dealership is selling more new General Motors cars than other dealers in the Omaha/Lincoln area, according to Granade. If sales remain steady, they could nearly double both November 2009 and October 2010 sales.
The dealership doesn't have a stack of guns behind the counter. Customers get a $300 gift certificate to Bass Pro Shops. Although the campaign revolves around firearms, customers can use the gift certificate for other merchandise as well.
“Obviously not everybody's motivation is receiving a shotgun or a rifle,” Granade said. “They could go buy chili powder, a fishing pole, slippers. They can get whatever they want.”
They could also simply take a $300 discount on their new vehicle.
“Most people have been pretty excited and just take the gun certificate,” Granade said.
The idea was pitched to the dealership by its ad agency. The necessary background check is done by Bass Pro Shops.
The Bluffs auto merchant isn't the first to offer guns with a purchase. In 2008, Mark Muller, owner of a Butler, Mo., dealership, offered certificates for handguns and, in 2009, AK-47 assault rifles.
The AK-47 offer was wildly successful, Muller said. People across the country who identified with Muller's pro-gun philosophy still contact him to buy vehicles, even though it is too late to take advantage of the offer. His “Snipers for Vipers” campaign this year — buy a Dodge Viper and get a free .50 caliber Barrett sniper rifle — was not nearly as successful.
To Granade, who enjoys duck hunting with his sons, the Bluffs offer is about offering hunting weapons for the fall hunting season.
“It's what Chevy and Cadillac are all about — rights as Americans and spending time with family.”
Contact the writer:
444-1310, andrew.nelson@owh.com
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