What is old is new again in the Army’s latest marketing campaign launched Monday, resurrecting the 1980s and 1990’s-era slogan, “Be All You Can Be,” minus the old jingle and mustaches.
The new ad comes as the service has struggled to appeal to Gen Z and off the heels of the worst recruiting year in its history, coming up 15,000 soldiers short of its goal of 60,000 new recruits. Service leaders have even more ambitious recruiting goals this year, aiming for 65,000 new enlistees.
“It has never been more important to recruit and retain the talented men and women who make our Army the world’s greatest fighting force,” the service’s top enlisted leader, Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston; the Army’s top officer, Gen. James McConville; and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said in a joint statement. “People are the United States Army’s greatest strength and our number one priority. They enable us to fulfill our very purpose: protecting our Nation by being ready to fight and win the Nation’s wars.”
The new ad ditches the slick “What’s Your Warrior” marketing effort, which pitched young Americans to enlist into a force with a diverse range of high-tech fields, largely sidelining combat arms roles that make up an extreme minority of jobs in the service in favor of promoting skills translatable to the civilian tech sector.
Instead, the new ad centers around the Army’s combat role featuring soldiers training with weapons and largely focused on troops in the field. The shift in tone comes as U.S. fighting in the Middle East and Africa has tamped down after two decades of the Global War on Terrorism. . . . . (read more on Military.com)
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