# I pit the new Army recruiting commercials **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 2, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449 "2004-11-02T00:07:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/1 "2004-11-02T00:07:53Z")
DAUGHTER: . . . So, if I could help a hundred people get a chance at a better life, they’d be successful. And then I’d be successful. FATHER: So somebody’s hiring for that? ON SCREEN: “ARMY: Become a soldier.” **HORSESHIT!** It’s the **Army,** not the fucking Peace Corps! Your job is to break things and kill people! Anybody who tells you different is a lying sack of shit! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/2 "2004-11-02T00:14:45Z")
The production quality is down too. I saw one last night, and some of the text they put on the screen (slogany stuff for READING, not fine print) flashed by too fast for me to get more than halfway through. It left me feeling that the army was trying to con me into joining somehow. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/3 "2004-11-02T00:17:00Z")
I think it’s interesting that in these ads, they portray the parents as reluctant to their sons and daughters joining the military… like enlisting in the armed forces is an act of rebellion. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/4 "2004-11-02T00:20:03Z")
I like 'em. Plays up the positive aspects of being a soldier, rather than the testosterone-laden “breaking stuff and killing people.” And in case you haven’t noticed, breaking stuff and killing people is not all the army does these days. Plus, in theory, it is a damn fine way to secure a future. They pay for college, plus give you a pension. All the above applies, of course, unless you manage to get killed. In which case, they’ll give you a fine funeral. But hey, it’s not like they don’t tell you the risks before you join up. I honestly wish I had considered the military more seriously when I was at that fledgling age. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/5 "2004-11-02T00:22:49Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > I think it’s interesting that in these ads, they portray the parents as reluctant to their sons and daughters joining the military… like enlisting in the armed forces is an act of rebellion. Uh, no. The parents are usually portrayed as being concerned about their kids’ future, and the kids are portrayed as the ones who came up with the idea to join the Army. Actually, I haven’t seen any of these ads in which the Army is explicitly mentioned in the conversations between the kids and the parents at all. The splash screen at the end usually does that. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/6 "2004-11-02T00:28:19Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Uh, no. The parents are usually portrayed as being concerned about their kids’ future, and the kids are portrayed as the ones who came up with the idea to join the Army. Actually, I haven’t seen any of these ads in which the Army is explicitly mentioned in the conversations between the kids and the parents at all. The splash screen at the end usually does that. In one, the kid talks to dad and says “I’ve decided to do it,” etc., and it’s clear they’ve been over it and the dad isn’t that hot on it. Must have been reading the newspapers or something. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/7 "2004-11-02T00:55:15Z")
Ah. I haven’t seen that one. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/8 "2004-11-02T01:34:53Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > And in case you haven’t noticed, breaking stuff and killing people is not all the army does these days. Look at Iraq. “Nation-building” is **not** what they’re doing! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/9 "2004-11-02T01:37:48Z")
Didn’t say it was, my man. Didn’t say it was. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/10 "2004-11-02T01:38:34Z")
I hate the fucking music on these commercials… Especially the Navy: Accelerate your life commercials This kind of bullshit heavy-metal really doesn’t appeal to me, but I have the feelign that a lot of recruits do like it. What can I say, its not for me. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/11 "2004-11-02T01:47:41Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Didn’t say it was, my man. Didn’t say it was. What I meant was, whatever you might do in the Army is directed to facilitating the ultimate purpose of breaking things and killing people, even if your job does not actually required you to fire a rifle. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/12 "2004-11-02T02:49:42Z")
But it’s an honorable career to have and a good way to secure a future, even if it’s not for everybody. The commercials merely focus on that aspect. Melodramatic? Sure. Doesn’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/13 "2004-11-02T03:14:32Z")
Hey, at least they’re trying. When the “Army of One” campaign started early in 2001, I found it to be quite lame. It’s an Army, dude, it’s not a personal-development seminar. Now at least they try to throw in references to what it is they do once in a while. They still have some that are a little bit spacey (though nothing gets as weird as the Marine Corps ad a few years back that had some sort of D&D theme…). Y’know, the Navy guys seeking to “accelerate their life” must really get to think about that slogan the first time they get stuck for 3 months at sea scrubbing heads… ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/14 "2004-11-02T03:20:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Your job is to break things and kill people! Anybody who tells you different is a lying sack of shit! I do not _neccesarily_ see a contradiction between this and giving people a better life. Some stuff needs breaking, and some folks need killing, for the common good. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/15 "2004-11-02T03:26:13Z")
> [@furt](#): > > I do not _neccesarily_ see a contradiction between this and giving people a better life. There **is** a contradiction, **furt.** Look at Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/16 "2004-11-02T03:33:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **HORSESHIT!** It’s the **Army,** not the fucking Peace Corps! Your job is to break things and kill people! Anybody who tells you different is a lying sack of shit! :mad: ROFLMAO! Thanks, man, I needed that. The most push-ups I ever did in the Army (during basic) was for a comment I made after having to _again_ clean a building which was already spotless to start with. I said, “Gee, if we ever go to war, my folks can rest easy knowing I died with a fucking toilet brush in my hand.” As I was doing my push-ups, I distinctly remember thinking, _“I thought I joined the goddamned Army, not the fucking Jolly Green Janitor Service!”_ I know I thought that, because if I had actually _said_ it, I would _still_ be in basic training, still doing push-ups. It took my Drill Sergeant a day or two to get his voice back. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/17 "2004-11-02T03:36:02Z")
It beats the “Army of One” thing, which struck me as being the worst possible ad campaign in the history of military recruitment. “Are you a weird, troubled loner who doesn’t like cooperating with others? Join the Army!” ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/18 "2004-11-02T03:37:42Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > The most push-ups I ever did in the Army (during basic) was for a comment I made after having to _again_ clean a building which was already spotless to start with. I said, “Gee, if we ever go to war, my folks can rest easy knowing I died with a fucking toilet brush in my hand.” > > As I was doing my push-ups, I distinctly remember thinking, _“I thought I joined the goddamned Army, not the fucking Jolly Green Janitor Service!”_ I know I thought that, because if I had actually _said_ it, I would _still_ be in basic training, still doing push-ups. Hilarious post. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/19 "2004-11-02T03:39:18Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > I think it’s interesting that in these ads, they portray the parents as reluctant to their sons and daughters joining the military… like enlisting in the armed forces is an act of rebellion. It was in my house. My parents, being products of the sixties (plus my dad being an ex-Army reservist) weren’t real keen on my brother and I joining the Navy back in 1993. They later came around. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449/20 "2004-11-02T03:58:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > There **is** a contradiction, **furt.** Look at Iraq. So you’re saying that killing someone _never_ serves the common good? Poppycock, and I suspect you’re not reading me correctly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-new-army-recruiting-commercials/272449.md?page=2)