Gibson's mistakes have never been more collectible than their best sellers. And from all reports, this year has been a sales disaster.
What Henry J. obviously wants to do is to innovate. His earlier attempts haven't worked (Firebird X, Robot etc.) because Gibson buyers just don't want them. Trying to force it with the whole guitar line was exactly the wrong thing to do. Something tells me he won't repeat this year's mistake, especially after the reaction to this promotion.
I did see American Musical's blurb on FB about today's promo. At least they called it a one-in-ten chance of reimbursement instead of winning.
Gibson will probably sell more guitars today, since there must be at least a few people ready to buy soon who will go ahead and buy today. But that won't increase overall sales, and the blowback might even cause sales to fall further.
