Keystone Cougar Hero Edition to Support Wounded Warriors – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
GOSHEN, Ind. – Easily recognizable with its striking matte green-colored full-body paint, Keystone RV has launched a special edition of its Cougar fifth-wheel in which proceeds of every sale will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
Known as the Hero Edition, the unit will make its public debut at America’s Largest RV Show in Hershey, Pa. Fittingly, the show’s opening day is Sept. 11. The Wounded Warrior Project was created following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Given the Hero Edition’s eye-catching exterior, it’s safe to say the unit will draw plenty of attention in Hershey. The color, which definitely has military vibe to it, has been dubbed Heroic Green and was produced in the manufacturer’s in-house paint facility in Wakarusa, Ind. The “Cougar” name and contemporary logo in raised lettering are the only exterior adornments which, paired with the matte green full-body paint, offers a subdued yet uniquely automotive-style design.
“We’ve been noticing trends in the market of people wanting less graphics, less swoopy, very simple, more automotive look,” said Keystone General Manager Matt Christensen, who credited Product Manager Scott Taylor with the matte green color, and from there came the concept of the Hero Edition in partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project.
Leveraging the “competitive advantage” of its paint facility and following the successful debut last year of the Cougar Midnight Edition, Christensen said the Heroic Green matte finish was something that Keystone really honed in on.
“We’ve just decided to have some fun the last couple of years, with all the things that have been going on in the market, to kind of flex our muscles with paint and bring paint to the market in a lower price point that is otherwise generally offered,” Christensen explained. “If you go to Tampa or you go to other shows, you generally only see full body paint on a higher-end Class A motor homes, or even really high end fifth-wheels – and a lot of times those paints aren’t even standard, it’s optional. So, we felt like this was a great opportunity for us to flex our muscles a little bit and use our paint facility.”
The concept started with the green color, black accents and bonded windows – slidetoppers also will be standard – and then it was “just letting the color itself speak for the outside of that unit,” Christensen said. “Then, as the unit came offline and we looked at it, we said, ‘Man, it’s got this military look to it.’ So, we felt that there could be an opportunity to do something with it.”
That opportunity quickly manifested in a partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit charity and veterans service organization that offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, illnesses or co-incident to their military service on or after Sept. 11, 2001.
Keystone will donate $1,000 from every retail sale of the Cougar Hero Edition, which is available on four of the full-size Cougar’s seven floorplans. Keystone’s total contribution will be no less than $250,000, and up to $1 million. Christensen noted, too, that each donation is coming out of Keystone’s bottom line and not just the company passing along the costs.
Each unit also will include a gift bag of Wounded Warrior Project items and other products to further commemorate the Hero Edition’s mission.
While the Hershey Show will be the Hero Edition’s public debut, prototypes have already been well-received by Keystone employees at a company-wide ice cream social and by Cougar owners at a recent rally in Shipshewana, Ind.
Taylor said he had “goosebumps” when both employees and Cougar owners flocked to the Hero Edition at each event, taking selfies and oohing and awing over the unit.
“Everybody was just cheering and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s what this is for?” Taylor said. “And the Cougar owners were blown away. The response was phenomenal. And one of the newer customers to Cougar had the best comment ever; he said, ‘I was hoping I picked the right brand. Now, seeing this, I’m absolutely convinced that I picked the right brand and the right company.’”
“And then, as we’re talking,” Christensen added, “people were coming out of the woodwork and talking about they had a family member who served, and maybe passed, or about all of the lives that our military has touched within our community and our company. We got even more resound in getting this done. We all stepped away from it for a second and said, ‘This is just a great thing. It’s more than just selling trailers. This is great for our company, this is great for our community, this is great for our industry.”
