Great Marketing And The Wild Bunch

Remember those great ads for Bianchi that appeared in the '70s and early '80s? It seems John had come back from a 10 day hunting trip looking pretty grungy and someone took his photo. When it was processed, the advertising staff said, "Hey, this guy looks interesting, let's do something with him." As they say, the rest is advertising history.

John said they always had to print an additional 1,000 copies of their ads to handle the flood of requests for signed copies after they appeared in print. It was a pivotal point for the company.

"It was so provocative, it kept the public's attention," said John. "People called asking what was going to happen next in the campaign. They were always just daring or whimsical enough to push the envelope a little, but the market told us to continue the series and we had great fun doing them."

Ditto for the "histographs," those historically correct posters showing the Wild Bunch and others. To this day, even though the posters haven't been available for years, gunshops everywhere proudly keep them displayed. Just try to buy one.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group