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Here's how I remember it.........
15-20 years ago, the Beretta 92 series was the gun to have. The adoption of the Beretta 92 by the US military ignited the wondernine craze that the Beretta led. Beretta fought long and hard for the contract, supplying an adequate 9mm pistol and greasing palms along the way. Beretta got decent product placement in the Lethal Weapon movies, as well as a few other shows. The Beretta 92FS almost pushed the 1911 off the gun rag covers for a year. Many police departments liked the Beretta 92FS and adopted it. Then Beretta started resting on it's laurels, designing rotating barrels, and plastic guns that look like inverted tennis shoes. They did put out a .40S&W Beretta 96, as well as a shorter barreled 92, a shorter gripped 92 and the single stacked Vertec. None of these were heavily marketed, and were presented as a solution to a problem in the original Beretta 92. To this day, the Beretta 92 has probably been on more movie posters than any other gun.
Meanwhile, Glock arrived with a plastic pistol that was cheaper to produce, homely as Quasimoto, but rugged as a crowbar. Glock made some trade-in deals to get those Berettas out of LEO hands. Glock secured product placement in multiple movies. Glock did not protest the use of thier name or image in gangsta rap videos and lyrics. Soon Glocks were the ubiquitous LEO pistol. It was the gun of choice among criminals. While people were lamenting the military's loss of the 1911, those "in the know" were packing Glocks. Glocks were spit out in every caliber except .380 and .22LR (and the lack of those calibers surprises me!), Glocks were available in every size and configuration, but they were all Glocks, and presented as a variation of a sucessful theme. Glocks were and are billed as perfection. To many people, they are perfection.
Marketing works.
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