The Navy website prominently features the first recruiting commercial of a new ad campaign. It includes only one person identifiable as a woman. Oh, and be sure to see the CNO's diversity policy posted just below it.
The new Navy commerical featuring the slogan A Global Force for Good was previewed last night at the Navy Ball in Singapore. It is an interesting shift in how the Navy appeals to potential recruits, a move away from the self-interest message of Accelerate Your Life to a call to public service.
Too bad it missed an opportunity to appeal to women who might want to serve in the United States Navy.
After watching the new commercial my wife observed that she did not see any women until about two-thirds of the way through the ad. I watched it online and she is right.
Excluding the historical footage, if you only count recognizable faces there is only one woman out of about 13 close-ups. Forget the Navy’s aspirations for a more diverse force, this ad does not even represent today’s Navy today where about 15 percent of its service members are women.
Clearly the ad agency, Campbell-Ewald, did not get the memo. The Diversity Policy memo from the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) that is featured prominently on the Navy’s home page just below the new commercial.
I like this ad mainly because it demonstrates that the nation is finally being called to public service — whether at the local or national level — that we should have had immediately following 9/11. It only took eight years, a new President, and a tanked economy. But it is not a partisan issue.
During the presidential campaign, Obama and McCain appeared at the September 11, 2008 launch of Service Nation in New York City. AARP, my former employer, recently launched a national program called Create The Good to encourage volunteerism. And just yesterday, President Obama gave a “glowing tribute” to President George H.W. Bush and commemorated 20 years since the launch of the Points of Light Institute.
From the Navy Times:
“That call to service — that does resonate powerfully with millennials,” [Capt. Phil Altizer] said, referring to the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s, for whom computers and the Internet have always been around.
“We need to … let people know the Navy is a much more than a lot of folks who go out there and stomp bad guys — although we do that,” Altizer said. “You’ve got the ability to dial up from a hard power-focused message, all the way down to the soft power.”
That’s why footage of sailors delivering humanitarian supplies and a glamour shot of the hospital ship Mercy form big parts of the Navy’s first TV spot using the new slogan, which Recruiting Command is launching to coincide with the Navy’s birthday Oct. 13.
Another element in the commercial is footage of World War II-era sailors fighting in the Pacific, which Altizer said was to link the Navy’s heritage to today’s service — critical, he said, given that ever-fewer veterans are available to do that in person.
Sure, a few people have quibbles with the new slogan. A handful gripe that the slogan does not scare the crap out of adversaries, others apparently do not want the military to be “good”.
A few people think that the use of the word “global” is further proof that the United States is succumbing to shadowy government overlords but clearly they have jumped the gun. Doesn’t everyone know that you must first be injected with the H1N1 vaccine to activate the chip that will be inserted by the President himself? That is why the military will be among the first to receive the vaccine. Now you know why FLOTUS Michelle Obama works on military family issues. But I digress.
I would not be surprised if ads featuring humanitarian efforts appeal to women — who make up a large part of the medical corps – more than the guitar-rock montages of ships, submarines and aircraft. (Some ads do not even have pesky dialogue to get in the way of the action!)
The Navy does a lot of humanitarian relief efforts, more than people realize. (See last year’s humanitarian ad, produced by a different agency but most of the same footage.) It will be interesting to see how these ads impact recruiting.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I guess I’m one of the few who sees this for what it is, a move to the Service mentalitality of the socialistic thinking crowd in DC. As a retired Senior Chief, 8404 Hospital Corpsman, I don’t see where the U.S. Navy should be America’s Navy. We are not America’s Navy, unless you consider central & south America part of the U.S. A force for good? What’s that about, the NAVY is a protector of the high seas for the US Interests. I call this INDOCTRINATION, pure & simple
I would hardly describe advertising firms as the thinking crowd, and tend to think they try all avenues to recruit people for all reasons they might want to serve. The fact is that the military does a lot of humanitarian missions — who else has the equipment to send in the wake of a hurricane etc. and that is appealing to some people. Ad firms lose the details in their soundbites, I don’t think anyone is going to think this is an ad for Costa Rica or Canada’s navies. (Does Canada have a navy?) And “good” is just appealing to people’s desire to do good for their country. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ad agency was picked during the prior administration, nothing moves fast in DC. Wonder if recruiting numbers will go up or down or stay the same with these ads.