John Oliver takes aim at the NRA's streaming site
On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver set his sights on NRATV, the National Rifle Association’s streaming site, which produces original content about — surprise — firearms. Oliver had a problem with a number of things on the channel. One was the NRA’s plan to get guns into as many hands as possible by targeting women.
At the end of a video montage about women in the NRA, a woman says, “You know, if you get the woman, you get the family.” Oliver said, “That is a brazenly transparent statement of your marketing strategy.”
Oliver also pointed out that much of the site’s content is sponsored by gun manufacturers, which led him to conclude: “The whole point here is the answer to the question, ‘What the f**k is NRATV?’ It’s just a vessel to sell America guns. That’s pretty much it.”
Not everything on NRATV is about guns. Oliver showed a video whose aim was to get people not to use drugs, but it sounded as if whoever wrote the script might have been high.
A voiceover intoned, “Sold and promoted for her nonaddictive, even medicinal advantages. What lies behind the veil of this seductress is far different than what she first appears to be. She is a harlot, and her name is Mary Jane” — all of which made Oliver wonder if NRATV had just slut-shamed marijuana.
Oliver is aware that not everyone is going to agree with him, so he had some advice based on an NRATV promo in which a man takes a sledgehammer to a TV showing mainstream news outlets and politically progressive shows — one of them being Last Week Tonight.
“If NRA members are annoyed with what I’m saying right now, they should do the exact same thing and smash their expensive televisions with large sledgehammers,” Oliver said. “Are you listening, NRA members? Destroy your own property. It’s a really good idea, and it’s honestly the only way we’ll learn.”
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver airs Sundays at 11 p.m. on HBO.
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