Is there anything a dapper rebrand ca n’t desexualise ? Including a gunman ’s reputation as the “ the world ’s favorite violent death machine ? ”
At a pressing event this week , the weapon manufacturer Kalashnikovunveiled a $ 380,000 rebrandingthat includes a new name , the Kalashnikov Concern , aka the Concern , as well as a new tagline : “ Protecting Peace . ” ( RT saysthe Russian interpretation translates as “ Weapons of Peace ” or “ weapon system of the World . ” ) The service gave the Concern ’s three weapon lines a makeover , and stick in a new line of survival and outside gear mechanism . Even the AK-47 engender a new logo , which will be stamp on every one of the new guns the weapon maker produces .
As plenty of critic have pointed out , the rebrand comes at a all important import for the company : Sanctions by the US and Canada have stopped shipments of hundreds of thousands of weapon , and the Concern is reportedly pivot towards Asiatic markets in the face of the uncertainty . So what , exactly , can a new individuality do for it ?
According toBusinessweek , the ship’s company ’s officials said at the entry that it wants to become “ as recognize and valuable ” as Apple . The Apple of fabrication and distributing hundreds of millions of weapons to regimes all over the world . The iPod of the ravishment rifle market . pip different !
But in one twisted common sense , it ’s not a completely nonsensical equivalence . Both party are unusual in the fact that they have build spheric empires on a shortsighted list of foundational products that do n’t change very often . Both run on a spheric scale , making name recognition and logotype contrive all the more authoritative .
The new AK-47 logo , for representative , is a KC with an upper arm determine by the curving cartridge of the gun itself — a magazine that is probably the most familiar to consumer out of all modernistic weapons . Kalashnikov , for adept or spoilt , wants that curving magazine to be its half - eat on Macintosh apple . Except that , you know , Apple ’s products are n’t designed to kill anything .
Perhaps most scandalous part of the service is the selling campaign that operate along with it , asThe Guardianpoints out . The Concern discharge a series of brand television that paint the AK-47 as the tool that played a major role in liberating the people from their compound oppressor . “ exemption movements in Africa , Asia and Latin America could at last battle back against professional compound armies , ” a narrator says according to the paper . “ This is a weapon which helped people oppose their kinsfolk and future , and demand the right hand to a peaceful future . ”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MD39HGqY8 M
This is a vastly romanticized version of history , of course . The Kalashnikov is the most popular assault rifle in the world , and because there is so little superintendence in its sale , both by Russia and flock of other earth powers , it is the main currency of complex illegal branch traffic surgical procedure that funnel the weapons into conflict geographical zone , feeding violence and repression .
“ The flagrant misuse of these assault rifles by unaccountable and poorly trained combatants and fighters has been responsible for one thousand thousand of direct and indirect demise in Angola , Chad , DRC , Liberia , Mozambique , Sierra Leone , Somalia , Sudan , Uganda , and elsewhere,”says Oxfam .
https://twitter.com/embed/status/540233095291891714
Of course , Kalashnikov is n’t right away responsible for those demise , but painting itself as a champion of the oppress is an ridiculousness — though a necessary one . Because of the conflict in Ukraine , many of Kalashnikov ’s partner are n’t buy its weapon any longer . So it ’s looking for emerging markets in need of cheap , dependable , easily used gun . The Concern lays it out in plain terms :
Eighty percent of all of Kalashnikov yield is exported . One of Concern ’s precedency is finding fresh and increase its share of existing marketplace . This approach was used to find fault 50 state that have the most likely develop Kalashnikov military products . business organisation already started young market penetration , mainly in the Asia - Pacific and African regions . The most promising markets for Kalashnikov are India and Egypt . Contracts with Thailand and Indonesia were signed latterly , and care is in negotiations with South American country .
With a poppy logotype and a promiscuous - to - understand message of struggle against the force that be , Kalashnikov has itself a snappy new sale pitch to go with .
While Kalashnikov hired a Russian PR house to dribble out the task , Creative Reviewbrings up the question of whether designers have an honourable obligation to vet the work their clients do , demand “ would you ? ” It ’s a quandary designers and architects have always faced — and are facing more and more often as they exercise in autocratic state — andone with no clear reply . [ Creative Review;Businessweek;RT;The Guardian ]
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