With 'Battles Won,' Marines hope to attract more recruits
鈥淔or a place, a people, an idea,鈥� the narrator gravely intones, 鈥渕arines will fight 鈥� and win.鈥�
shows them doing just that: firing heavy artillery, staring down their rifle sights while chin-deep in muddy water, and, of course, raising the flag on Iwo Jima. But the ad also has snippets of service on the home front: A former jarhead who thwarts a gas station robbery, for instance, and marines collecting Toys for Tots donations in fatigues.
By the time the trailer wraps up, you鈥檙e probably expecting to see 鈥淭he Few, The Proud, The Marines鈥� flash across the screen. The iconic slogan appears, but not before the words 鈥淏attles Won.鈥�
This slogan, and the decision to highlight community service alongside battlefield victories, marks the latest fine-tuning of the military鈥檚 recruitment machine.
The 鈥淏attles Won鈥� concept, , is 鈥渁n all-encompassing brand idea that frames the chapters of our longer Marine Corps story in the context of a fight 鈥� fighting self-doubt to become a Marine; fighting our Nation鈥檚 battles; and fighting for what鈥檚 right in our communities,鈥� according to Military.com.
Meanwhile, Military.com also reports that "The Few, The Proud, The Marines" may soon be replaced entirely with a not-yet-determined tagline.
Since America鈥檚 draft ended in 1973, the military has needed to sell potential recruits on service. 鈥淭he few, the proud, the Marines鈥� 聽鈥� even earning a spot on Madison Avenue鈥檚 Advertising Walk of Fame in 2007.
First used on television in 1977, it of challenging 鈥� but exciting 鈥� aspects of service: marines sweating their way through obstacle courses and rappelling out of helicopters.
But during the Iraq War, as both soldier deaths and military recruitment efforts increased, ads like these drew criticism. In 2005, ,
Recruiting ads typically depict life in the military as a really fun first-person shooter game, one that happens to look good on a r茅sum茅. Recently, the "Army of One" spots showed off some of the awesome, adrenaline-pumping jobs that soldiers can have 鈥� mostly jobs that don't involve being shot at.
Critiques of the military鈥檚 efforts to recruit young people . But the Marines have also begun appealing less to video game-like excitement and more to a desire to serve at home. One began with images of civic pride 鈥� a voting booth, a soccer game 鈥� before segueing into boot camp and battlefield scenes and concluding, 鈥淭his is the land I love, the country I鈥檓 honored to serve.鈥�
Gunnery Sergeant Kronenberg, the Marine recruiter, says that 鈥淏attles Won鈥� was 鈥測ears in the making.鈥� During that time, the campaign鈥檚 planners seem to have decided to emphasize the familiar promise of adventure over less-proven-to-succeed ideals of service.
Both the full two-minute trailer and combine action scenes with peaceful, all-American images. But the shorter video leaves out the thwarted gas station robbery and Toys for Tots collection scenes that are likely to resonate with more civic-minded viewers.
It鈥檚 too early to tell if either ad will attract more recruits, but recent events made clear that this campaign, like those before it, sidesteps the dangers of military service.
Last week, several hundred marines to fight the Islamic State. And on the home front, a massive nude photo-sharing scandal has placed Marines leadership 鈥� and internal culture 鈥� under scrutiny. In coming months, it鈥檚 not just the Marines鈥� recruiters who will have battles to win.
