The U.S. Army has learned that if you torture data long enough it will confess to anything.
"Data-based" ad campaigns whipped up by the purple-haired prodigies at the militaries outside ad agencies only appealed to woke youngsters who had no intention of joining the Army in the first place.
The commercials were strong on appealing to same-pronoun marriages and families, along with the rest of the consonant crusader market.
The ads, however, were weak on appealing to someone who might actually want to join the Army.
The Daily Caller Foundation walks us through some of the campaign attempts.
In 2019 the Army tried the "What’s Your Warrior" campaign, "but it’s belligerent overtones turned away some hopeful audiences."
Probably because "speech is violence" crowd isn’t too receptive to communication from an organization that is built around physically defending America when events warrant.
In 2022 another tack was tried: "The Army doubled down on messaging about benefits and career opportunities available to soldiers in 2022 and into 2023," most of which didn’t involve toting a rifle.
You'll note the lack of patriotism as a motivating factor in either ad campaign.
A potential recruit looking for work perks and a uniform would be better off joining the U.S. Postal Service.
No moving around and you’ll be dodging dogs instead of bullets.
In all fairness, the job was tough for ad agencies.
It’s really difficult to write ad copy for a population demographic one is leery of.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., summed the result up nicely: "The Army’s identity-based marketing has been a disaster for recruiting, which is why they’re shifting away from it. . . . The Army and every other branch needs to focus on appealing to all Americans, regardless of their political beliefs or background."
Elaine Donnelly, of the Center for Military Readiness, agreed, "Left-wing trends in the military’s education and personnel policies — including emphasizing inclusion of LGBTQ+ servicemembers, doubling down on outreach to minority communities, and teaching CRT and giving pronoun advice at the military academies — to support 'diversity as a strategic imperative' could cause conservative, often white families to believe they 'are not welcome or appreciated in the military.'"
Those commercials "forgot that the primary market for Army recruiting is young men from traditional families, looking for a challenge. Last year’s recruiting crisis was partially fueled by that colossal mistake."
Which resulted in the Army missing its recruiting objective for 2022 by a giant 25%.
That’s why the Army has decided to solve the recruiting crisis by adopting a tried-and-true adverting tactic: bait and switch.
First, the big brains went back to the "Be All that You Can Be" slogan that was used between 1981 and 2001. "You could say that the new brand is 'non-woke' because it is completely absent of any suggestion that the Army is interested in any one demographic than another," said Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense.
Today’s "Be All that You Can Be" won’t be focused on men who are hankering to be women.
That, of course, is the bait.
The switch comes when the new recruits are forced to attend their first boot camp struggle session where white recruits learn they are racists and bad to the bone.
Thus, there is absolutely no evidence the Pentagon poohbahs have decided to abandon Critical Race Theory, White Supremacy, Systemic Racism and all the other divisive, "woke" buzzwords the mentally insecure substitute for thought.
We pity the new recruits, particularly from traditionally military families who are fooled by the advertising turnaround.
In civilian life when an advertiser suckers you in with bait and switch tactics, you can go to the Consumer Protection Bureau, Better Business Bureau, or your state (or county) consumer protection agency. If the violation is bad enough, you can even go to County/Small Claims Court.
But when the federal government does it, you're stuck for the term of your enlistment.
Enlistees, say your prayers.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.