Yes, modern technological advancement has delivered quite the blow to the lowly Citizens Band Radio. I will not disagree.
Have you ever seen anyone driving at night, though, and they've just been driving by the light of their day time driving lights, so they have no taillights? I see it several times every night. Next time you see that, how about whipping out the trusty cell phone, and giving that guy a call, to remind him to turn on his lights?
Or, how about, the next time that your sitting in a traffic jam, call the guy at the front of the line, so you can find out what's going on.
Of course, you don't know those people, most likely, so you can't do that. You don't have their phone numbers. The CB is old tech, sure. But, it isn't useless tech.
There are still many places, all over the country, that have poor or nonexistent cell coverage. CB's can still work, though.
And, don't underestimate the power of a good marketing campaign. You know, last Friday, millions of Americans went out and drank a lot of Mexican beer and tequila, and ate burritos, tacos, and enchiladas, and listened to Hispanic music. Why? Because last Friday was May 5, or Cinco de Mayo. Most people don't know why they went out on a Mexi-fest, they just went because their friends did. That was the result of a marketing campaign, to sell Corona. Most Mexicans, I understand, don't even celebrate the holiday. I couldn't even find anyone to tell me the significance. (It's a recognition of Mexican triumph over French forces, by the way. That battle concluded on the 5th of May, back in the 1800's)
Another example; several times, every day, some poor sod enters a jewelry store, and plunks down the equivalent of 2 months of his wages to purchase a clear and sparkly rock, that has been affixed to a shiny metal band. Later, he will present that goofy thing to some bright eyed young girl, with the hopes that she will agree to marry him. He doesn't know why he needs the magic rock, but she won't marry him without it. That is the result of a marketing campaign by De Beers jewelers, back in the late 30's. They even came up with the completely arbitrary 2 month salary guide line. 80 years later, we still do it.
It's not that a marketing campaign would be hard, either. I don't pay too close attention to modern trends, but I think that Zombies, and the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse, are still a thing. That's an easy thing to latch on to;
"The Zombie Apocalypse. It is here. The cell towers are down. How will you communicate with your fellow zombie fighters? Good thing you have your Chicken Bander 3000, with the patented Super Squawker(tm) microphone technology!! Etc., etc."
The aforementioned traffic jam scenario would also be a good selling point, especially when you add some safety aspect to it, like not having to fiddle with smartphone screens for traffic updates.
Our modern lives are filled with things that we really don't need, because of good marketing. We do absurd things, like celebrate obscure Mexican holidays, or propose to our girlfriends with stupid, shiny, overpriced rocks (yeah, I did that one, too), because of good marketing.
I truly believe that CB could make a comeback with some good marketing and promotion, along with some better effort towards product availability.
Unfortunately, though, I think that the manufacturers of CB's and accessories have given up. I guess that they are content to ride it out quietly, to the very end, whereupon they will quietly shut their doors without incident, and vanish into the oblivion. Many of them have done so, already. Or, they just sold out to DAS, who keeps the old names on life support, just barely breathing, at travel centers.
