Yeet Cannon Has Been Yote.
In what could turn out to be the most epic marketing failure of this year, Hi-Point Firearms has totally eliminated the most popular choices, including crowd favorite “Yeet Cannon” in their “Name The Nine” contest.
Just what is going on…
First off, let’s be honest. Having a “name your product” in a post Boaty McBoatFace world is a risky proposition at best. At worst, it’s a way to end up with a terrible name, or basically evoke the hate of the entire internet when you do use the take bscksie clause. When your whole company is ALREADY the subject of many memes, you can guess how this contest went for Hi-Point.
So, Hi-Point sets the stage by releasing the specs and pictures of their new double stack model without a name, and a “Name The Nine” social media contest. Round 1 started in early June, and asked the customers for their submissions, which presumably would’ve been narrowed down to the top 3-5, and combined with some of the company ideas to create Round 2.
So How’d That Work Out For You?
Well, guess what… The internet was bound to internet. What was the crowd favorite you ask? The breakout hit was the Yeet Cannon, or YC9. What in the hell is Yeet you ask? According to Urban Dictionary, “Yeet” “Means to discard an item at high-velocity”, so it’s certainly not the worst name in the history of guns, especially when abbreviated. The other crowd favorite was the Problem Solver, which of course is a reference a National Geographic documentary.
June 18th: The internet cries over the death of the Yeet Cannon
When the final list of names was released, it included neither the Yeet Cannon (YC9) or Problem Solver (PS9) names, the top 2 picks from Round 1. The internet roared with dissatisfaction.
Hi-Point finally posted a screenshot of their rules page that basically says “if we don’t like it, we can eliminate it.” Which of course everybody has, but should only be invoked under the worst circumstances.
Even HK is getting in on the action…
Why it’s so bad to discard Yeet Cannon
truth time… Will this damage Hi-Point’s overall brand reputation? Nah. The type of consumer who is going to buy a Hi-Point is probably going to buy a Hi-Point no matter what they do on the internet. What is has done though, has cost Hi-Point potentially a fair amount of sales from people who simply wanted the novelty. There were several people around here, who would never consider buying a Hi-Point, waiting with credit cards at the ready to pre-order the Yeet Cannon. Hi-Point had a chance to at the very least sell a bunch of guns to a group of consumers who never would buy one of their products. Even worse, they embraced the attention they were getting with posts like this during the contest.
It would’ve been one thing to straight up ignore the Yeet Cannon. It’s quite another to bask in the attention of the viral gods, and then go on to smite them.
Is the Yeet Cannon dead?
We shall see if the internet gets what it demands. That being said, a Yeet Cannon from the likes of Palmetto State Armory, Armscor or other budget brand just won’t be the same. Hi-Point had an extremely unique opportunity to capitalize on viral marketing, trap lightning in a bottle, admit and embrace the fact that their guns ARE a meme to the serious end of the industry. Yet, instead, for factors unknown, they have yeeted away that chance.