It's a tough time to be a U.S. military recruiter. Somehow fighting in a counterinsurgency doesn't seem as sexy as, say, Top Gun. Dogfighting against communists wasn't just cool -- it looked fun! But it's hard to imagine Goose, Maverick, and Iceman laughing it up in Baghdad while on patrol in their poorly armored Humvee. I mean, really, how do you convince a young man of fighting age who hasn't already signed by now that there's still a great reason to join the U.S. Army? What possible incentive could you offer to some dude sitting on his couch playing Guitar Hero who hasn't already been moved to serve his country in the War on Terror in Afghanistan or the war in Iraq? If your recruitment target isn't moved by patriotism, economic need, or an internal desire for military service, what else could possibly motivate him to sign up?
Huh. Well, considering how popular Guitar Hero is, maybe that's not a bad place to start, right? I mean, for a lot of young men, is the fantasy of becoming a rock guitar wizard motivated by anything all that different from the fantasy of becoming a fighter pilot? Could it be that this is the kind of (flawed) reasoning that went into this atrocious ad to the left?
"You know which guys get all the hot babes? Rock stars. Wait, no. Men in uniform. And rock stars. And you know who gets the turbo-hot babes? Rock star soldiers! No two ways about it: every girl's crazy 'bout a camouflage-wearing, stratocaster-playing man."
Nice going, U.S. Army. Those are advertising dollars well spent.
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