US Army debuts new ad campaign as it struggles to hit recruitment goals

By Haley Britzky, CNN

The US Army on Wednesday launched a years-in-the-making rebrand, including two new recruiting commercials, as it aims to increase enlistment numbers after failing to meet its recruiting goals last year.

“The Army at the end of the day is here to fight and win the nation’s wars, and we wanted to reflect the Army that does that. And that’s the Army that I see when I go out and visit installations, whether it’s here or whether it’s overseas,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told CNN on Tuesday. “These commercials were really based on the market research we’ve been doing about, what do people think about the Army, what do they think they know, what don’t they know, and how do we start telling that story through these ads?”

That mission couldn’t come at a more important time for the Army, as the service has kicked itself into high gear hoping to address its 2022 recruiting shortfalls — which saw the Army 15,000 recruits short of its goal — and get more young Americans into uniform.

“It took us more than a year to get into that situation that we’re in, in terms of the recruiting landscape,” Wormuth told reporters at a Defense Writers Group event last month. “And I think it’s going to take more than a year to turn it around.”

Indeed, Wormuth said Tuesday that the new goal the service set for this year of 65,000 recruits is, admittedly, “a stretch goal.” It’s 5,000 more people than the Army attempted to recruit last year.

But she added that so far, the service is already ahead of where it was last year in terms of recruitment, pointing back to various initiatives the Army has undertaken, like incentivizing soldier referrals and launching a prep course for individuals who want to join the Army but can’t yet meet the standards.

At least part of the Army’s effort now includes the brand refresh, and the new recruiting commercials released Wednesday, which Wormuth said were originally expected to debut in August but are being released earlier because the “recruiting situation is as serious as it is.”

The rebrand is centered around a classic Army slogan, “Be All You Can Be,” which was first introduced in the 1980s. Narrated by actor Jonathan Majors from “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Creed III,” one of the new spots titled “Overcoming Obstacles” takes the viewer through each generation of the Army.

From the fields on which the Revolutionary War was fought, to the trenches of World War I and the beaches of Normandy, France, Majors walks viewers through the “obstacles” that the Army has overcome.

“If you see obstacles ahead of you,” he says near the end of the commercial, “take a closer look at this force that’s been overcoming them for almost 250 years. Where you can draw strength from those beside you and make your history.”

The second video, titled “Pushing Tomorrow” focuses in on non-combat opportunities, highlighting careers in the science and technology field.

Campaign reflects diversity of Army

Wormuth said those videos — along with a teaser video that was released on Monday — seek to also display a diverse Army that reflects the America it serves. Previous attempts to do so have been branded as “woke” by some conservative media and Republican lawmakers, but Wormuth said the service’s market research has shown that young Americans don’t believe they or people they know are “the kind of people that join the Army.”

“You’re going to see lots of different people doing lots of different roles,” Wormuth said of the videos. “You’re going to see men and women, you’re going to see people of color, and part of that is important because one of the things we found in our market research is that a lot of young people admire the Army, but they don’t think there are people like them in the Army.”

Maj. Gen. Alex Fink, the Chief of Army Enterprise Marketing, told CNN that they spoke with roughly 14,000 people to conduct market research for the rebranding effort — 29% were people in the prime recruiting ages of 16 to 28 years old. Fink also said the “Be All You Can Be” tagline was one of around 200 options that the Army was considering, but the classic phrase was a “runaway winner amongst all audiences.”

The renewed marketing push will kick off with a paid media campaign at the 2023 NCAA March Madness tournament on Sunday, according to the Army’s press release. In August, the service will release a second phase of the campaign, focused on a “deeper, more personal look at the hopes, fears and dreams of today’s youth.”

Fink alluded to a similar intent for the new campaign, emphasizing on Tuesday that the “Be All You Can Be” tagline means something different to young Americans today than it did when it first debuted 40 years ago.

“We’re not going back to ‘Be All You Can Be,’ because in the 1980s, the country exuded a sense of optimism. Think about the bright shining light on the hill. And the ‘Be All You Can Be’ of the 1980s reflected how youth felt about their future. That’s not the same feeling that youth have about their future today,” Fink said. “They worry about being the first generation not to outpace their parents. So as we introduce ‘Be All You Can Be’ in 2023, to a new generation, we’re trying to reposition the army in their minds around the possibilities. It’s less about being all you can be already, and more about becoming all you can be.”

The younger generation also worries about the negative impacts of service. Wormuth told CNN that when young Americans are asked what is stopping them from joining, they say a fear of death or injury, and things that fall under “psychological harm,” which she said includes concerns over issues things like suicide and sexual assault and harassment.

Those are real concerns; the suicide rate among active duty service members has steadily increased over the last decade. Reports and incidents of sexual assault in the military have also increased.

Wormuth emphasized on Tuesday that the Army has undertaken a number of steps to address those challenges over the last couple of years, like surging behavioral health experts at certain installations, working to build more connected teams, and overhaul sexual assault and harassment response and prevention training.

And while she is under no impression two short commercials will fix the problem, she hopes they show America the possibilities that exist within the service — while the Army works to address them internally.

“I would say fundamentally, these two ads are much more just trying to say the Army offers possibilities. You know, you can be all you can be,” Wormuth said. “We do all these different things, and we can challenge you, and offer you the opportunity to be a part of something bigger.”

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