Beyond the Article
Click here to see the November 2009 issue, where this column originally appeared.

I have an idea—hey, if Customs can try to rewrite the Federal Switchblade Law, I can have an idea, right?—and it is all because of BLADE® reader Roger Conroy of Rio Rico, Arizona.

Roger is one of the featured participants in this issue’s “The Knife I Carry.” At one time or another, it would seem, Roger carries more knives than Smoky Mountain Knife Works. If he were to walk through a metal detector, the detector would go seismic, anti-knifers would have the vapors, and knife enthusiasts would be busting knucks from here to Solingen.

If you ever see Roger out and about and need a knife to open a letter or box, cut an apple, trim your nails, fix a sandwich, cut a steak, or otherwise have someone come to your aid, he is the man. It seems his wife, Lynn, also has her favorite carry knives, so if she is with Roger and he is busy helping someone else with a cutting chore, ask her and she will probably have a knife to do the job for you as well.

In this disconcerting day and age of raving knife-o-phobiacs, revisionist “historians” (Ahmadinejad’s refuting the Holocaust, for example), high unemployment, so-called comics elected to office and elected officials quitting office before end of term, it is refreshing to see walking, talking advertisements such as Roger and Lynn for man’s oldest and most reliable tool.

Which brings me to my idea.

Knife manufacturers, importers—heck, even knifemakers—should consider looking for folks such as Roger and using them in their ads, sales literature and other promotional efforts to tout the utility, quality and general “cool factor” of their knives.

(And I don’t mean one person touting one knife—I mean one person who owns several knives recommending them.) While witty, clever slogans and stunning imagery remain effective ways to sell knives, why not also consider capitalizing on the very best testimonials possible—those of the people who actually buy and use the knives? After all, in order to decide which knife is best for you, would you rather be told by whoever makes it why the knife is best for you or by someone who actually buys and uses it why it is best for you?

Not only would such an approach enhance the company’s truth-in-advertising reputation, it would also give back to the people who make the knife industry go—the almighty knife consumers. (And don’t tell me such recognition means nothing to knife enthusiasts; all you need do is peruse “The Knife I Carry” in each BLADE to see that it does.)

Such an approach would take a little legwork by the companies (and, understandably, some compensation to the users/collectors in question), but the resulting benefits—not only in excellent advertising for the companies’ knives but also in invaluable public relations with the companies’ best customers—would be lucrative and far reaching.
Of course, the benefits would not just end with the companies and their customers. It would extend to the industry in general and beyond, giving knives a more personal feel to knife enthusiasts and non-knife enthusiasts alike. And in these strange days, the knife industry needs all the positive public relations it can get.