NRA Lures Smartphone Generation with ‘Freestyle’ Web Shows
Online series like 'Noir' aim to make gun culture hip.
May 15, 2014— -- Guns and gossip go hand in hand on the NRA’s new web series, “Noir.”
The show’s star is 30-year-old Colion Noir, a self-described “urban gun enthusiast” from Texas, and he’s part of the National Rifle Association’s quest to lure the smartphone generation with its new multimedia effort, NRA Freestyle.
Noir, whose real name is Collins Idehen, keeps the tone light with co-host Amy Robbins on his show – dishing on new guns, current events and music. In the first episode, posted online Sunday, the couple mused about a $5,000 rifle Noir bought and the “cardboard box” packaging it came in.
“I want a nice box,” Noir said. “I don’t want the Build-a-Bear beginning set of a homeless guy’s apartment.”
“I get Lululemon headbands in better packaging than that,” Robbins quipped.
Their show is one of several new series on NRA Freestyle, a Netflix-style multimedia effort where “adventures, style, culture and firearms collide,” according to its website.
“It is part of our overall communications effort with NRA members, gun owners and the American public,” Andrew Arulanandam, managing director of public affairs for NRA, told ABC News.