'Army Strong' is all wrong

“…The Army launched its new recruitment slogan, ‘Army Strong,’ which replaces their previous slogan, ‘Army Strong.’ Meanwhile, the Navy is sticking with their recruiting slogan, ‘Iraq: It’s Almost Entirely Landlocked.’” -Seth Meyers


Facing yet another tough recruiting season, the Army has recently launched a new advertising campaign using television ads and Internet placements, along with a presence on popular youth destinations such as YouTube and MySpace.

The TV ads in particular, airing on stations like MTV (a youth-dominated media source… notice the trend here?), attempt to glorify service with thrilling (safe) images of soldiers jogging in formation, defying obstacle courses, and jumping out of helicopters. Predictably, all of the ads are set in familiar, domestic settings, conveniently excluding the Army’s current endeavor: the war in Iraq.

These new “Army Strong” ads ignore the harsh reality of our current state of foreign conflict; volunteering for the Army is depicted as being akin to a carefree summer away at camp rather than the crucial and life-threatening decision it truly is. Despite the fact that adolescents are influenced by media images, by choosing to target youth media outlets such as MTV or the Internet, the Army is intentionally misleading its target demographic of teenagers who are most likely wary of enlisting. Whether teens recognize it or not, in all actuality, volunteering these days inevitably means immediate deployment to combat zones in Iraq.

Unfortunately, it is obvious that the Army is more concerned with meeting its fiscal 2007 recruiting target and far less concerned with being an honest and “strong” government organization.