It didn’t occur to me until I read a recent blog about Army advertising that the Army shouldn’t really be advertising. Who else advertises for a chance to get yourself killed, and if not, you’ll get some money and good health benefits later?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not bashing the Army or any of the armed forces and I’m very thankful for all the women and men who are out there fighting for us and those that have been wronged. This post isn’t about whether the Army is right, I just want to talk about the Army’s advertising.
In 2006 the Army recruited the McCann Worldgroup to come up with a new slogan, which is now “Army Strong.” You know how much this is costing the Army? $1 billion for five years. That’s right, the Army spent a billion dollars to use that slogan for five years. I hope that McCann is also doing all the advertising, which I would assume, but I know it’s dangerous to assume anything. Military.com just says that McCann signed a five-year contract with the Army, with $200 million guaranteed each year for the first two years.
The Army did away with its previous slogan “An Army of One,” which it only used for six years. They decided to get a new slogan in 2006 because in 2005 they missed their recruiting numbers by the widest margin in more than 20 years.
I guess it worked because in 2006, recruitment of 80,000 new soldiers was met. The “Be All You Can Be” slogan was used for almost 20 years, so the “An Army of One” slogan was just in infant stages before it was pulled. According to Military.com, the slogan “Army Strong” was “developed in numerous tests with focus groups and interviews with soldiers, is meant to convey the idea that if you join the Army you will gain physical and emotional strength, as well as strength of character and purpose.”
The new slogan, along with an enlistment bonus topping out at $40,000 rather than $20,000 also helped the Army meet recruitment goals. Oh, and not to mention that they’ve lowered the bar on their standards. Many people that usually wouldn’t have made the cut are over in Iraq, fighting for us. People that don’t know how to shoot a gun straight, among other things. Scary, huh? Of course, I’m not going to talk too long about this, because I don’t see my butt getting up and going to Iraq, but it’s just sad that we are even in this situation.
Anyway, back to my point. Most people know that the Army isn’t as glamorous as the ads make it out to be, yet these kids at 18 years old, seem to think it could be. They’re hoping it could be and they’re hoping for a change, and they see the possibility of that change that generally isn’t real in these commercials and ads. To me, the Army ads seem like any other kind of company, touting its benefits and hiding its negatives. Being truthful is at the top of the “required” list for a good ad. I wish the Army ads would just let people know what they are in for from the beginning.
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