The Navy sells false hope
So I'm watching The Office the other day on NBC.com
The Office, by the way, is my new favorite TV show. Actually, it's the only TV show I watch right now (until Lost comes back in February). I LOVE The Office. I only started watching it a few months ago and I'm already all caught up to the fourth season. It just keeps getting better and better. I think it's not only hilarious, but one of the most realistic shows (acting, and writing) I've ever seen. I see it as a dead-on parody of corporate America and the disappearing small business.
Anyway, so I don't even have a TV this year, so I'm appreciating the fact that NBC.com is showing all their new episodes online. But, of course, they make sure that you watch plenty of commercials. The new online TV commercials are different than traditional ones. They usually just have a couple sponsors. This means they can do much more focused ad campaigns. This time, the featured sponsor was the US Navy.
I had to watch about 5 Navy ads over the course of the 30 minute episode. The US is in enormous debt but I guess they still have plenty of money to spend trying to convince people to join the Navy.
I was little confused why they were advertising the Navy to viewers of The Office, though. It doesn't really seem like the right market.
Anyway, my point is about the content of the Navy's ad campaign. Here's a screenshot:
"Five Oceans. 100 Ports. The Career of a Lifetime." ??!!
This ad is selling the Navy like its tourism. Great way to suck in poor, impressionable people, jeez! There's been so much recruiting going on at my campus this fall, and they're throwing all kinds of gimmicks and offers at students to get them to join the Army, the Marines, etc. All kinds of scholarships and bonuses and extras, because they're so desperate for manpower because they're stretched so thin right now in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now they want to invade Iran, which is definitely the WORST idea in the world!
And it seems that they have bottomless supplies of money (all being borrowed of course) to spend on expensive ads like this. Makes me sad.
The Office, by the way, is my new favorite TV show. Actually, it's the only TV show I watch right now (until Lost comes back in February). I LOVE The Office. I only started watching it a few months ago and I'm already all caught up to the fourth season. It just keeps getting better and better. I think it's not only hilarious, but one of the most realistic shows (acting, and writing) I've ever seen. I see it as a dead-on parody of corporate America and the disappearing small business.
Anyway, so I don't even have a TV this year, so I'm appreciating the fact that NBC.com is showing all their new episodes online. But, of course, they make sure that you watch plenty of commercials. The new online TV commercials are different than traditional ones. They usually just have a couple sponsors. This means they can do much more focused ad campaigns. This time, the featured sponsor was the US Navy.
I had to watch about 5 Navy ads over the course of the 30 minute episode. The US is in enormous debt but I guess they still have plenty of money to spend trying to convince people to join the Navy.
I was little confused why they were advertising the Navy to viewers of The Office, though. It doesn't really seem like the right market.
Anyway, my point is about the content of the Navy's ad campaign. Here's a screenshot:
"Five Oceans. 100 Ports. The Career of a Lifetime." ??!!
This ad is selling the Navy like its tourism. Great way to suck in poor, impressionable people, jeez! There's been so much recruiting going on at my campus this fall, and they're throwing all kinds of gimmicks and offers at students to get them to join the Army, the Marines, etc. All kinds of scholarships and bonuses and extras, because they're so desperate for manpower because they're stretched so thin right now in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now they want to invade Iran, which is definitely the WORST idea in the world!
And it seems that they have bottomless supplies of money (all being borrowed of course) to spend on expensive ads like this. Makes me sad.
posted by Matthew Hartzell at 10:33 PM
0 comments
