I asked to order a winners choice string and was made to feel embarassed for asking such a thing. I took his " advice" and put on a Zebra. I am already experiencing the same problems as last year. I can tell you the next string won' t be a Zebra. When I look to buy a new bow I know I won' t be so quick to jump at Mattews again[X(
That was a problem with the dealer, not Mathews. Most stock strings are junk and need replacing, from most bow companies.
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Here' s my take on the situation. Mathews advertising works, and works very well. When I go to my local range, 80% of the bows being shot, are Mathews (I don' t shoot one). Out of curiosity, I' ve asked many of them what they thought of Mathew' s advertising. Most say, they like it. A few didn' t even know what the ads said, but no one said it offended them. I think this is very typical of the average hunter who isn' t on their computer talking about this stuff all the time.
I think the microcosm of bowhunters on this forum, do not at all represent the average bow user out there. Heck, I' d bet that half of the posters here, have some affiliation with a bow company or bow shop. They are biased, to an extreme. Many have anit-Mathews agendas, and will put them down at all costs. It' s always been typical business practice to attack the company on the top. Some of these anti-Mathews posters, post frequently and have gained respect on these forums, so when the issue is Mathews, they often sway the opinions of others who read this stuff. In the real world, the attitudes I see on these forums, do not exist to a noticable degree. Mathews has been wildly successful doing what they do. If the advertising didn' t work, it would be known immediately by Mathews and they would change it right away. The mere fact that it remains, is proof of it' s effectiveness. Almost no one in the real world gets offended by a product advertisement that is targeting a competitor, unless they are affiliated with a competitor.
The attiltudes that persist on these forums in regards to Mathew' s advertising, do not occur to any great degree among the average bowhunter. Believe me when I say Mathews knows this. No company dumps that kind of money into advertsing without evaluating it' s effectiveness to the nth degree. If other companies put the same amount into their advertising, you' d see a lot of the same kind of comparisons, and although this kind of advertising greatly effects competitor' s attitudes and those who are overly loyal to another company, the average bowhunter doesn' t give a hoot.