How to attract new players to Airsoft?

[Dan Robinson]

I can't think of much scarier than SWMBO armed with an AEG.

She might be small, but she's got a hell of a temper.

Thankfully she also has all the athletic prowess of an egg.

 

[gavinkempsell]

I should think the most obvious would be to have a stripper on at lunchtime given the target audience...

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Ok, but I'll need 1hrs pay in advance.

 

[GenuineGerman]

Mine would be quite happy in the safe area drinking coffee. God loves a trier  

 

[hprentice]

 I was hoping it would make my son realise that in the army you only get shot once.....compared to how many respawns he had to do on a typical skirmish day.

Don't mind him signing up to learn a skill/trade and serving that way.  I don't want him being Cannon fodder for whatever cnut has managed to persuade an alarmingly small proportion of the population to put them in power....when was the last truly justifiable armed conflict we were involved in (outside of local peacekeeping)?  The Falklands....  maybe the first Gulf War (the first part liberating Kuwait).

No criticism of those serving....it's the ones hiding behind their power I despise for taking advantages.

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As they say, war never solved anything, except slavery, genocide, naziism, fascism, and terrorism...

Theres a huge culteral shift in young people these days. As a kid, nearly every lad at school had an air rifle or airsoft gun at home. People would talk about the military at school and half the lads I knew had aspirations to join the military. Now theres not a huge interest in the military for a number of reasons (mostly they know its a lot of work for little pay) and people just dont have the desire for it. I think this goes hand in hand with airsoft and most people outside of the sport see it as an old mans game outside of their own interests. 

As for changing that i do think social media influence is the only way to reach younger people. There more youtubers (licking spunkstain excluded) that can post content that appeals to younger people the better. Kids now just want to play call of duty and sit around, so if more content was to reach younger audiences showing exciting gameplay then i think more people would play.

 

[Poach]

You generally want social media if you want to reach out to the youth of today. The problem is Airsoft is ran by old men whose idea of social media is Facebook (and I say that as someone who probably falls on the "old" side of the young/old divide in Airsoft by now!). The second problem is the current trendy platforms for younger audiences (like Instagram and Tiktok) are extremely hostile to Airsoft: accounts get banned regularly for showing airsoft guns on them.

In terms of actual actionable ideas, reaching out to groups that contain youngsters that might be interested would be the way to go. Chat to the local Cadet Forces and local Airsoft sites and see if you can't get a Cadet day going, for example. Buy a billboard ad on a road the kids use to go from school or college to the local cuisine vendors at lunch time. Rent a stall at your local Fresher's Fair. Chance your luck on Instagram with buying a targeted ad and hope Insta doesn't ban you for it.

 

[EDcase]

...In terms of actual actionable ideas, reaching out to groups that contain youngsters that might be interested would be the way to go. Chat to the local Cadet Forces and local Airsoft sites and see if you can't get a Cadet day going, for example. Buy a billboard ad on a road the kids use to go from school or college to the local cuisine vendors at lunch time. Rent a stall at your local Fresher's Fair. Chance your luck on Instagram with buying a targeted ad and hope Insta doesn't ban you for it.

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Specifically targeting youngsters with ads will land you in hot water with the lefties saying that you're trying to radicalise them and indoctrinate violent behaviour.

Anything gun shaped is a no in today's society.

Ads would have to emphasise the camaraderie and team building but avoid showing the 'toys'

 

[Egon_247]

So lots of videos of eating bacon rolls and walking back to respawn....???

 

[EDcase]

Exactly ?

Not forgetting shaking hands of the other team after a game ?

 

[DanBow]

Specifically targeting youngsters with ads will land you in hot water with the lefties saying that you're trying to radicalise them and indoctrinate violent behaviour.

Anything gun shaped is a no in today's society.

Ads would have to emphasise the camaraderie and team building but avoid showing the 'toys'

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Fuck the lefties! If we pander to them, they win! Advertise how much fun running around the woods shooting your mates is. Advertise the buzz you get from a well placed shot that takes out an enemy player. Advertise all of the things that they, they lefties, hate.

 

[gavinkempsell]

Chat to the local Cadet Forces and local Airsoft sites

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TBH, this is the best idea IMO, a few years ago (ok, decades) as a teen in the ATC, we had an evening running around the local links with a capture the base gameplay, was great fun & OMG, having a usable firearm would have been awesome.

So lots of videos of eating bacon rolls and walking back to respawn....???

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Show it as it is... honesty is the best policy.

 

[Egon_247]

TBH, this is the best idea IMO, a few years ago (ok, decades) as a teen in the ATC, we had an evening running around the local links with a capture the base gameplay, was great fun & OMG, having a usable firearm would have been awesome.

Show it as it is... honesty is the best policy.

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A fellow ex air cadet. ?

One of the reasons I don't have an L85 in my collection. I know how pants the cadet version was...?

 

[Pseudotectonic]

Are there any celebs who play airsoft? Partly because the airsoft media space is rather vacuum in my opinion

 

[gavinkempsell]

Are there any celebs who play airsoft? Partly because the airsoft media space is rather vacuum in my opinion

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Yeah... KickingMustang. ?

 

[Shamal]

Justin Bieber, David Beckham, Peter Gunn.

Not sure about the last one but the first two do.

Have a look in Google  at celebrities who play Airsoft 

 

[Pseudotectonic]

There is a picture of the king holding up a paintball gun... at an army recruitment event? I was just gonna say maybe the army can run their own flavour of milsim events as some sort of recruitment drive or PR, but I'm not sure what political implications there might be and whether it could actually harm the hobby, "Rory you're not allowed to play airsoft because you're gonna get drafted by the army and sent somewhere and die!!!"

Anyways I think we need a celeb or some sort of next gen airsoft content creator who can generate talks and clicks and actually help push the airsoft culture to be more appealing and accessible, we need more mascot(s) who can represent

 

[Colin Allen]

Fuck the lefties! If we pander to them, they win! Advertise how much fun running around the woods shooting your mates is. Advertise the buzz you get from a well placed shot that takes out an enemy player. Advertise all of the things that they, they lefties, hate.

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And watch as airsoft gets banned and the "lefties" win.

This is the great dilemma that airsoft faces; basing advertising on the elements that make it great fun is likely to bring those elements into the wider public consciousness, which will almost certainly increase the probability of it being banned.

I am centre-left politically; if the political spectrum was my feet, I would be roughly where my left hallux is or, on some topics, where my left second toe is.  However, in the world of airsoft, I am clearly far to the left of most players that I meet.  However, I do know a few "leftie" players, so we are not all the enemy that you imagine us to be or have been persuaded to believe we are.

 

[Cannonfodder]

Sorry but the last thing airsoft needs is some halfwit celebrity or goontube twat acting as a representative for airsoft, simply put these people are only out for themselves and imo wouldn't be doing us or the hobby any good. 

Tbh I'm not so sure we really need to be actively trying to increase numbers. As I posted earlier, airsoft has never been as "mainstream" as it is now and those who are interested will be aware that airsoft exists. I suppose my big concern is that it airsoft becomes too big it'll attract the dickheads and put a bigger spotlight on us leading to more legal restrictions 

 

[GenuineGerman]

People like trotting donkey are the reason people come to Airsoft sadly, The calibre of people could be questioned I think. 
 

Lefties, righties or middlies it’s much of a muchness for me. Sensible people can see that law abiding Airsoft players arent going to turn into criminals or at least the vast majority aren’t. 
 

The problem is the vocal fringe that seem to control the headlines and scaremonger because clearly they aren’t out shooting pews at each other and having fun. 

 

[Galvatron]

I don't think the player base needs to expand but rather attitudes toward it be more open-minded and accepting that it's just another hobby/pastime/recreation that its players are very passionate and enthusiastic about and one that helps their wellbeing in keeping them active.

Going to the gym is good for people's wellbeing also but when you hear about steroid and other PED use or the steroid user (plus gym "influencers") behaving in disagreeable way, exercising at the gym isn't villified and denounced because of one or a few bad apples the way airsoft in the UK would be, nor would exercising at the gym fall under the same scrutiny.

I couldn't agree more about the concern that becoming too big will attract mouth breathers. Look at F1. A few years back, it was popular but in only so many people's conversations. Thanks to Drive to Survive and F1's commercial rights holders pushing it to be more mainstream, it's much bigger with a new breed of fans who have taken the lustre off the sport because of their tribal behaviour bringing the handbags out at dawn.

I'd rather not have a celebrity or "influencer" push airsoft because it would be another flavour of the month with new players dicking about, harming the reputation of regulars who take safe, honest and responsible play seriously.

Justin Bieber, David Beckham

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I rest my case. I don't consider Bieber as much of a prick now but he's not exactly a shining endorsement for airsoft. Beckham is an entitled self-loving brat who got salty about being ineligible for a knighthood because of his tax dodging then he made me even less inclined to consider visiting Qatar when he promoted it for the last World Cup.

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

 Beckham is an entitled self-loving brat who got salty about being ineligible for a knighthood because of his tax dodging then he made me even less inclined to consider visiting Qatar when he promoted it for the last World Cup.

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That’s true,

But the salty twat also got (reportedly) paid £125,000,000 for the hassles of promoting Qatar.

I think I could live with myself and the worry that you didn’t want to go there if I was in his shoes ?