Get your teeth straightened and get a gun? ‘Grins & Glocks’ promotion raises eyebrows

A Triangle orthodontist is offering free Glock 19 handguns to patients who sign up for Invisalign treatment in Raleigh and Wake Forest this week, continuing a nationwide trend of using firearms to increase sales.

The “Grins & Glocks” special is a joint promotion between Gladwell Orthodontics and Youngsville Gun Club, offering either the gun or club membership to those who sign up for the tooth-alignment procedure in Wake Forest on Wednesday or Raleigh on Thursday.

Gladwell referred questions to David Field, who works with the Triangle practice, and who said the ad was originally intended only for gun club members before it got shared on a wider social media platform this week.

The idea, though, was to nudge potential patients on the fence about the Invisalign procedure.

“It’s a good value,” said Kurt Lieberman, one of the gun club’s owners, commenting on the Glock as incentive. “If you want to get your teeth fixed, you can do both.”

Firearms as marketing tool

Using firearms as a sales enticement goes “far and wide,” Lieberman said.

Last week, a roofing company in Florida offered customers a free turkey and an AR-15 rifle, according to NBC News. RoofEZ’s president hoped sales would double.

In 2015, a West Texas car dealer saw sales skyrocket after he gave vehicle buyers a choice of an AR-15, deer rifle or handgun, an ABC station in Houston reported. A New Hampshire used car salesman made a similar pitch a year later: “Buy a car, get an AR,” wrote The Washington Post.

“It’s a good marketing tool,” Lieberman said. “There’s a negative and a positive: 50% of Americans don’t like them, and 50% of Americans love them.”

‘This is insane, free guns for Invisalign’

Several N&O readers forwarded the “Grins and Glocks” ad with concern:

“This is insane, free guns for Invisalign!” wrote one. “How is this even possible or legal?”

Lieberman said the orthodontic patients would receive a coupon and then be subject to the same background check as anyone purchasing a firearm through a gun store. They also would face the same minimum 21 age requirement for pistols.

With the membership as an option, he said, they can also emphasize safe and responsible ownership as part of the deal.

Neither business reported hearing any backlash — only people wanting to know if the deal was true.

Align Technology, which manufactures Invisalign products for orthodontia, issued this statement late Wednesday:

“Align Technology was recently made aware of a customer’s promotional advertisement that references our clear aligner brand. All of our doctor customers are independent practices and Align was not involved in the development or approval of the promotion or the advertisement.”