New UK Army Ads Call Upon "Binge Gamers" and "Snowflakes"

Armies around the world have been increasingly targeting gamers in their ads campaigns. But the UK Army just took things to a whole new level.

The British Army has come under scrutiny for its latest attempt at viral marketing that features ads that call upon the likes of "binge gamers," "snowflakes" "me me me millennials," "selfie addicts," and more.

The ad campaign suggests what others see as character flaws and weakness, the army sees as an asset and strength. For example, the army needs "snowflakes" for their "compassion" and "me me me millennials" for their "self-belief."

The ad campaign was apparently designed to show that the army looks beyond stereotypes and "sees people differently."

"The army sees people differently and we are proud to look beyond the stereotypes and spot the potential in young people, from compassion to self-belief," said Major General Paul Nanson.

Despite name-dropping millennials, the campaign actually targets 16 to 25-year-olds, also known as Generation Z.

And to top it off, the army decided to base the campaign on the historic "Your County Needs You" World War I posters that featured Field Marshal Lord Kitchener.

In addition to the posters, the UK Army also released a brand-new YouTube video that specifically hones in on recruiting gamers, which as mentioned above, armies love to do. Because, you know, gaming and fighting in war go hand-and-hand. Y'all have played Call of Duty, right?

Here's the video, which is accompanied by the following description: "The Army spots potential. Even if others don't. Your Army needs you."

Defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, described the new campaign as "a powerful call to action that appeals to those seeking to make a difference as part of an innovative and inclusive team."

"It shows that time spent in the army equips people with skills for life and provides comradeship, adventure and opportunity like no other job does," said Williamson. "Now all jobs in the army are open to men and women. The best just got better."

Naturally, the ad campaign has been met with considerable criticism, which seems to be the fate of many army campaigns this day. Back in 2018, the US Army announced it would be getting involved with esports -- because that's something an army does -- and of course this was met with substantial backlash. But something tells me these type of ads -- especially the ones aimed at gamers -- are going nowhere anytime soon. Clearly they've been somewhat effective, otherwise armies wouldn't keep going back to the pool.

Alas, we live in some strange times.

Source: The Guardian