Opinion
Alexandria, Virginia –-(Ammoland.com)-The National Rifle Association has filed a lawsuit against their longtime marketing agency, Ackerman McQueen.
Ackerman McQueen has been the go-to marketing team for the NRA’s media wing for the past 30 years. Ackerman McQueen produces all the programming for NRATV. All NRA personalities are employees of the ad agency and not the NRA.
The NRA asked Ackerman McQueen to justify their billing for the service that they provide with NRATV, but the ad company refused to comply with the NRA demands. According to the NRA, Ackerman McQueen was obligated to provide information about the traffic that NRATV was generating for the site. Since the middle of 2018, the production company has ignored or refused to provide the information to the NRA.
Without these analytics, the NRA argues that it is impossible to justify the $42 million that the NRA paid Ackerman McQueen in 2017. These numbers “enable the NRA [to] analyze the return on its investment in NRATV.”
The NRA “requested access to material, readily available records that Ackerman and Mercury are contractually obligated to provide,” reads the lawsuit.
The business records that the NRA requested was the “budgets purportedly approved by the NRA, copies of material contracts for which the NRA is purportedly liable, and readily available performance data—all to inform the judgment of its fiduciaries.”
This marketing spending accounts for 14% of the gun rights groups total budget. The NRA paid Ackerman McQueen more than any other vendor on the payroll. Members have long criticized the NRA for spending so much money on personalities such as Colion Noir and Dana Loesch. They think this money would be better spent on fighting against anti-gun laws.
The NRA has been under constant attack by anti-gun groups and left-wing politicians. Under pressure from these groups, corporate sponsors have cut ties with the country’s oldest civil rights group. Also, states like New York have attacked the NRA’s “Carry Guard.”
New York put pressure on the insurance backers of “Carry Guard” to cut ties with the gun groups. The NRA says that New York interfered with its business by coercing “insurance agencies, insurers, and banks into terminating business relationships with the NRA that were necessary to the survival of the NRA.”
Ackerman McQueen for its part says that it has done nothing wrong and have provided a valuable service to the NRA through its NRATV.
“The lawsuit is ‘frivolous, inaccurate and intended to cause harm to the reputation of our company,” Ackerman McQueen said in responding to the lawsuit. “We will defend our position and performance aggressively and look forward to continuing to serve the NRA’s membership.”
Ackerman McQueen legal counsel also says the NRA lawyer that is spearheading the suit, William A. Brewer, has “irreconcilable conflict of interest.”
In a twist that is straight out of a movie, Brewer is the brother-in-law of Ackerman McQueen CEO Revan McQueen and son-in-law of Co-CEO Angus McQueen. The attorneys for Ackerman McQueen claim that Brewer “demonstrated, in words and deeds, his animus” towards the McQueen family.
Calls AmmoLand placed to Ackerman McQueen were not returned at the time of publication.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.
This is only MY opinion so take for what it’s worth. I’m a retired military officer with 24 years of service to this great country and three combat tours defending the American way of life. Didn’t always agree with the politics that got me sent overseas to far off conflicts but still always supported my country and my President (regardless what party they were) as that was my commitment and sworn oath. That being said, I have been an NRA member almost my entire adult life. Now I’m a Benefactor Life Member. I believe in strength in numbers and the… Read more »
That sound you hear is Wayne Wayne LaPierre and chris cox running scared for their own skin. Time to sue Wayne and his lapdog for years of mismanagement. There is no way in hell that they are worth 1.5 million dollars a year for their constant hiring and management of ack mac which basically overpaid themselves, as well as ack mac. Their qualifications are not worth half of what they are paying themselves. Compare their salaries against any other nonprofit organization. Funny that when stories abut the bed partners and cozy relationship between them came out, it created buzz, but… Read more »
I’m still an NRA member but the basic membership dues is all they get from me. Gun Owners of America is now my “go to” 2nd Amendment organization. If only a fraction of NRA members would join us there we could make GOA the premiere gun rights organization. If nothing else the NRA would sit up and take notice.
Doesn’t matter if the NRA sits up and takes notice; what matters is whether members of Congress sit up and take notice. Ask most members about the GOA and the answer is, “Who?:
Why not just wait until the contract expires, and then pick some other company?
The insider! NRA head honcho Wayne LaPierre hired AM on and has protected them big time. His wife Susan has an Ackerman email. Actually when it all boils down the NRA does well oven $200 million a year with this one Texas firm–and it is insane to have done that and more for this long, unless someone is making real money form this at NRA HQ. Many inside the NRA have tried to get rid of AM but the top dog protects it.
IT IS A FACT–that for the last 20 years Ackerman McQueen has had a more than sweetheart deal with some at the NRA. HQ. Many board members (powerless in the real NRA world) have questioned why the NRA sticks with them and the suspicion has been for many year s kick backs. Ackerman McQueen does all the advertising for print and many other elements of “work” for some really huge NRA money–far far beyond the puny $42 million. Those of us in the know want them gone 15 years ago with new blood to come in. I know of no… Read more »
This advertising company is top notch and there is more to this story. They have used them over 30 years and with the son-in-law who obviously has a bone to pick…something smells. NRA needs to think long and hard about kicking their own agency down.
“Their own agency” is not doing a very good job. NRA is being buried in negative publicity. Even on this post, a lot of folks are leaving or cussing the NRA.
Ack-Mac contract is a sweetheart deal that would get a CEO fired in any other corporate environment. The contract should have been put out to bid years ago.
Problem: So many members of the GOP are Democrats. Problem: So many members of the Democrat party are Communists. In 1977 during the “member’s revolt” the NRA was bitch slapped into defending the 2A rights of the membership. Slowly the NRA changed the by-laws so that will never happen again. The board, also appears to have been gelded of any authority. Lately offering only a feeble choreographed presentation to remain within the discussion, to justify fundraising off the discussion, and no effort toward the restoration of rights. In fact NRA has recently approved gun control legislation. . . Very inappropriate.… Read more »
Excellent commentary. My thoughts exactly… It has caused me to become a life member of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) Life Member. The NRA is not performing up to par and the membership knows it.
Edward Sanders, NRA Benefactor Life, SAF Life
Another poor judgement on the part of the NRA, spending this much money on TV, instead of legal defense of our 2A. Reminds me of the saying “more money than brains”.
Let’s not underestimate our enemies. They have already tipped their hand by announcing they welcome the legal challenges associated with their coercion of financial institutions and insurers to cut ties with Law Abiding Gun Owners (NRA) as it will further help to bankrupt us. It is extremely possible that this production company has been taking advantage of us for years and only now are we seeing it and that’s be happy to drag this through the courts for several years and millions of dollars. We all know nobody wins in that case. Also there has been a documented effort by… Read more »
Nothing like being led by a convicted international gun runner for a good public image. How about the million dollar plus salaried for Wayne and the boys? I lived and worked in D.C. for seven years. A world unto its own inside that beltway!
Sound’s like you need to get rid of some people. With people like that you don’t need enemy’s
If this is to be believed, questionable relationships with vendors and conflicts of interest have been eating the NRA alive. It sounds like it’s time to clean house. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/secrecy-self-dealing-and-greed-at-the-nra?fbclid=IwAR0B9kGPsLUR4o7ZNh520zWcpZJXxu3xHeQzBgF8ZwBAdBZgmm8YpK0Qzio
Currently we need far more political action than occasional entertainment. Time to end NRATV.
Man, if the NRA weren’t spending money entertaining us, they’d be spending money slowly selling away our rights. Time to end the NRA.
Austin I agree with you except for your last sentence. If the SAF or GOA had six million members then I would agree. Numbers of members and dollars talk.
Yep Dubi, I agree.
This. Donate to groups that won’t squander and/or kickback our donations.
Whenever I hear it’s time to quit the NRA, I wonder if the guy is genuine NRA/Pro 2A or an anti-gun troll…… We need all the help we can get, but we do need to get NRA priorities straightened out again.