Beth Bailey deconstructed the military’s advertizing campaign today as well as the history of an All-Volunteer Army well. By moving to an All-Volunteer Army she puts this in terms of economic factors. Prospective recruits as “consumers” and the military as the “product”. In this sense many factors influence the military’s recruitment. To a large extent this is true, military commercials all focus on different aspects to sell their “product.” I have noticed that the different branches of the military focus on different things. For example, the navy “See the world” as opposed the Marines who focus on transformation, even the motto we see on the commercials is “the FEW, the Proud, the Marines. The army for instance increasingly advertises this benefits such as job training and educational benefits.
One aspect I wish she could have spent more time on how recruits feel they are being mislead by advertising campaigns. This happens with all types of “products” but one can not return the army if they do not like it. The ad advertising 16 months in Europe seemed like a good example, here it is very easy to be mislead by this ad. The text makes the army seem like a mix between study abroad and a pleasant vacation. On the last page she touches on how soldiers are being misled. She gives the example of how the Europe ad was changes to read “In Europe You’re on Duty 24 Hours a Day, but the Rest of the Time Is Your Own.”(p.74) This I think highlights a key problem with an All-Volunteer Army, they offer a variety of opportunities but since they are the military and not just a commercial “product” this causes problems. Especially today when soldiers are actually expected to fight and when needed their deployments are extended beyond what the recruitment campaign made them expect.
I think it is important to contrast what the military is offering now as opposed to pre-1973. Bailey asserts that obligation and citizenship were reason for soldiers during the days of conscription. While honor, glory and sacrifice are still used as examples to join the military today they are not used to the same extent as they were used prior to an All-Volunteer Army. Now it would seem that the honor, glory and tradition the military offers is very much mixed in with all the economic benefits enlisting has.
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I think it's a very interesting transformation that the armed services had to undergo. The switch to the AVF changed service into a 'product' to be sold. And a product naturally has to have quality, or it won't be bought. I think that the commercials and benefits they use to increase enlistment are far from walking the line on misleading. Obviously a commercial isn't going to tell you that your service may be extended if necessary. Because that's not part of the draw. And it's ok, because most ads don't claim any maximum time period.
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