Fall 2005, Volume 10 Number 3

Table of Contents

As the war in Iraq stretches into its 31st month, the United States military is facing serious recruiting shortages.  The branches of the military that supply the largest number of troops to Iraq have had the most difficulties with recruiting.  The Army failed to reach its recruiting goals in four out of the first six months of 2005; the Army National Guard came up short in all six. 

            To keep up with the demand for troops, the military has increased its marketing in an attempt to sell youth on the idea of enlisting.  The Army, for instance, has nearly doubled its advertising budget since 2000.  Recruitment advertising has also become more sophisticated as military marketers increasingly use techniques perfected by the $15 billion-a-year youth marketing industry.  Colonel Thomas Nickerson, the Army’s advertising director, recently told the New York Times, that the Army’s marketing campaigns use “the best practices of corporate America.”

            Some might question, however, whether emulating these “best practices” is in the best interests of children and their families.  After all, the alarming epidemic of childhood obesity, youth violence, precocious and irresponsible sexuality, excessive materialism, and family stress have all been linked to youth-directed marketing.  Just as youth marketers use new media, in-school advertising, and viral marketing in order to make an end-run around parents to target children with junk food, violent media and other potentially harmful products, the military is increasingly using these same techniques to sell youth on potentially harmful military service.

In-School Marketing       

            Youth marketers like targeting children in schools because they have a captive audience that is unable to avoid their commercial messages.   One of the more popular – and controversial – ways that students are exposed to advertising in schools is through Channel One.  According to its website, Channel One’s newscasts – which consist of ten minutes of news and two minutes of commercials – are shown in nearly 12,000 schools to almost eight million students each school day.           

            The military is one of the leading advertisers on Channel One; one study found that ten percent of the broadcast’s ads were for military recruitment. This year, the Army alone will spend more than $2 million dollars on advertising and promotions with Channel One, and the Marines and Navy are regular advertisers as well.  The Army also sponsors content on Channel One during Black History and Hispanic Heritage Months that highlight the contributions of African-American and Hispanic soldiers throughout history.  Such an arrangement follows a trend favored by corporate marketers where the lines between content and advertising are increasingly blurred.  It also allows the Army to target their message to two minority groups that make up a disproportionate percentage of the troops in Iraq.

Targeting Young Children

            The military is also following the corporate model by targeting their commercial messages to younger and younger children.  For instance, despite the fact the Army claims they only advertise to children 16 and older, their ads on Channel One are shown to children in grades 7-12.  The Army also advertises in in-school publications, such as Scholastic’s Science World, which are distributed to children as young as sixth graders.  And in the latest indication that the military – like corporations – is interested in cradle-to-grave branding, a promotional film made by the Department of Defense has been showing regularly at Chuck E. Cheese, a party center for young children.

Using New Technologies

            New technologies have allowed marketers to move beyond television to target youth through a variety of means.  Food marketers, for instance, are particularly fond of “advergames,” computer games built completely around products that keep children’s attention focused on specific brands much longer than traditional commercials.  Similarly, the Army’s recruiting website (www.goarmy.com) also includes a section for visitors to play and download Army branded games. 

            The most popular of these games is America’s Army, a first-person shooter game that allows players to simulate the life of a soldier from basic training to combat.  Since its release a little more than three years ago, America’s Army has been downloaded more than 16 million times.  The Army has referred to the game as its best recruiting tool and now organizes regular recruiting events featuring America’s Army tournaments for players ages 13 and up.             

            It is not surprising that the Army would want to cash in on the tremendous popularity of violent video games among youth.  There is something particularly disturbing, however, about using a game where all deaths are virtual in order to promote a career choice where the possibility of real killing, death and serious injuries exist. Last year, the national advocacy group Veteran’s for Peace adopted a resolution condemning the Army’s use of video games for recruitment purposes.

Viral Marketing

            In recent years, corporations have begun tapping into existing youth social hierarchies in order to market their products more effectively.  Marketers seek out popular kids and give them free products to market to their (often unsuspecting) friends, a technique known as viral marketing.  Similarly, the Nation reports that the US Army’s recruiting handbook urges recruiters to “Know your student influencers. . . . some influential students such as the student president or the captain of the football team may not enlist; however, they can and will provide you with referrals that will enlist.” Recruiters are also encouraged to integrate themselves seamlessly into students’ lives.  Suggestions include volunteering to help coach athletic teams, chaperone dances, and to “get involved with Boy Scout troops.” 

Undermining Parents           

            One of the reasons corporations like to market to children is that so many of their products – junk food, violent media, sexualized clothing – are likely to meet with parental disapproval.  Military marketing also undermines parents’ authority as gatekeepers by targeting youth directly, even those parents who have taken active measures to insure that recruiters do not contact their children.

            A provision in the No Child Left Behind Act gives parents (and students over the age of 18) the ability to “opt-out” of military recruiting.  Parents can write to their school district and ask that their child’s personal information not be turned over to military recruiters.  But parents cannot opt their children out of the mandatory viewing of military ads on Channel One or prevent them from being solicited by a recruiter masquerading as a football coach.

            The military also has other ways of acquiring students’ personal information.  The Pentagon has hired BeNow, a private marketing firm, to maintain a database of 30 million young people ages 16-25 - including those students who have opted out of military recruitment through the No Child Left Behind provision.  The database includes names, addresses, email addresses, ethnicity, social security numbers, areas of study and cell phone numbers.  Many advertisers view cell phones as the next great marketing medium so don’t be surprised if the military starts sending games and text messages to teens and children directly through their phones.

What’s Wrong With Military Branding?

            Responding to critics who charged that the America’s Army videogame was a sinister way of targeting young children, a veteran recruiter told the Seattle Times, “This isn’t some kind of psychological thing to brainwash anybody.  It’s getting the U.S. Army name out there in a positive light.  It’s like Coca-Cola.  You see the shape of the bottle and you know what it is.  It’s branding.”

            It isn’t only brainwashing, however, that is cause for concern; branding is bad enough.  Marketers promote brand identification to get consumers to differentiate between remarkably similar products (e.g. Coke and Pepsi) and to make purchases based on emotions and positive associations rather than careful consideration of the benefits, costs, and potentially harmful effects of a product.  In other words, branding discourages critical thinking, the very skill that young people will need before making what may be the most important decision of their young lives. 

            Potential military recruits should seek out as much information from as many sources as possible.  Before enlisting, they should understand why the military is having such a tough time finding new recruits.  They should be aware that they will most likely be sent to Iraq if they enlist.  They should understand that the war is not going well, and that there is no end in sight to a conflict in which nearly 2,000 Americans have died and thousands more have been injured.  They should recognize that they will be trained to kill; and that the very real possibility exists that they themselves will be seriously injured or killed.  None of this crucial information is likely to be found in a video game promoting the Army brand or  on Channel One.

            Younger children who are not yet capable of making such difficult and complex decisions should simply be left alone by military recruiters and marketers.  Older children should be actively assisted by their parents in their decision-making process.  And both parents and children should be wary of anyone who acts as if the decision to enlist is like choosing between two brands of soda.

Resources

            Many peace groups – including Code Pink (http://www.codepink4peace.org), the American Friends Service Committee (http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/Default.htm) , United for Peace and Justice (http://www.unitedforpeace.org) and the Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools (http://www.militaryfreeschools.org ) – have made counter-recruitment education a key aspect of their work   Anyone with concerns about military marketing or recruiting would do well to contact any of these groups.

                Parents (and students over 18) who do not want their children to be contacted by military recruiters can find information on “opting-out” at www.leavemychildalone.org

                Concerns about military marketing in schools should be directed to local school administrators, as well as to purveyors of military advertising such as Channel One and Scholastic. 

Josh Golin (jgolin@jbcc.harvard.edu) is an anti-commercialism and anti-war activist from Arlington, Massachusetts. 

© Copyright 1999, Kids Can Make A Difference