US military to use Youtube as recruitment tool

[CptStern]

A film clip entitled "Vanguards" and posted on the video-sharing Web site YouTube opens with a view of Earth spinning in outer space.

From there, the camera rapidly zooms in through computer-generated clouds, and into a tent where an officer stands in front of a cutting-edge video display and briefs a team of fictional, futuristic American soldiers.

The next six minutes include what you'd expect to find in any Hollywood action movie: lots of explosions, high-tech gadgets and heroism.

the preceding makes no sense when coupled with this statement:

"People don't have a realistic vision of what soldier life is like and the best person to give them that is a soldier." ?

futuristic soldiers? hollywood type explosions and high tech gadgets? that doesnt sound all that realistic to me ..

I found this sort of amusing:

YouTube is full of videos opposed to the Iraq War and the U.S. military. Quite a few videos, created by American soldiers themselves, depict U.S. forces abusing and taunting Iraqi civilians.

The Army wants to counter those videos with its own. "People don't have a realistic vision of what soldier life is like and the best person to give them that is a soldier. ? It would be criminal if only the bad side was out there," Eaton said.

hey why only focus on the bad when you can focus on fictionalised events and/or one sided feel good opinions as to what it means to be a soldier

Soldiers, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, will soon be able to post homemade videos depicting "real slices of life," said Louise Eaton in the advertising division of the Army's Accession Command.

.. Once the platform is operational, soldiers will be able to send their clips to the Army for posting, but videos will "only go on the site with [the Army's] blessing," Eaton said.

but of course!

Eaton said that though the Army would "exercise a filter function," the videos posted to YouTube "are not propaganda." They are instead, she said, an effort by the military to "participate in the YouTube community" and counter some of the "misrepresentations" of the Army and Army life already found on the Web.

ah I see ...not propaganda however anything not to the army's liking wont be posted ...it makes you wonder what the Army means by "misrepresentation" ..especially since they'll only represent what they want to represent ...so isnt that a misrepresentation?


http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2983159&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

 

[Polaris]

I saw that, it's great!
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a13V5H4mjnY[/YOUTUBE]
I really don't see nothing bad about that...

 

[Tyguy]

What bastards, trying to promote themselves

 

[CptStern]

I havent watched all of it however it sounds more like fictionalised story than a documentary, in other words propaganda ..where's the balance in that?

it's an advertisement, nothing more. Dont try to pass it off as "reality" when it's oviously not ...it's propaganda fluff meant to entice the weak minded

 

[Tyguy]

I havent watched all of it however it sounds more like fictionalised story than a documentary, in other words propaganda ..where's the balance in that?

it's an advertisement, nothing more. Dont try to pass it off as "reality" when it's oviously not ...it's propaganda fluff meant to entice the weak minded

Not all of us have the jedi mind control that you so valiantly possess. Id like to see some kind of advertisement that was not an exaggeration of truth or service. Thats all advertising is, propaganda!

 

[CptStern]

really?

so you're saying even though you know it's propaganda it's still a good recruitment method (lying)?

you're not buying soap here

 

[Cole]

Hey trailers for games are basically advertisments and there on youtube. Some trailers have features/levels/things that don't make it into the game. Thats False Advertising.

Stern, it's just YouTube. Is it really that bad? Every u.s. citizen that goes into the u.s. military knows what there getting into. They know they will be in Iraq and that it's not a happy oo fun time. However they will also get money for college, looks good on job applications, and then theres nationalism. It's just YouTube.

 

[CptStern]

Hey trailers for games are basically advertisments and there on youtube.

ya well there's exactly zero chance I'll lose my legs in an ied attack while playing a video game

Some trailers have features/levels/things that don't make it into the game. Thats False Advertising.
Stern, it's just YouTube. Is it really that bad? Every u.s. citizen that goes into the u.s. military knows what there getting into.

bullshit ..85% of american soldiers stationed in iraq believed Saddam had something to do with 9/11 ..you cant possibly argue they know what they're gettting to ...especially if they signed up to fight in iraq/war on terror

They know they will be in Iraq and that it's not a happy oo fun time. However they will also get money for college, looks good on job applications, and then theres nationalism. It's just YouTube.

ya money for college wont do you much good if you arrive home in a pine box ...look I dont expect you to understand the difference between selling a product and selling a lifechoice by glorifying it into something it's not ..just search for videos in youtube from soldiers ..the videos from soldiers lamenting their choice or regreting fighting in iraq far outweigh positive stories of experiences in iraq

 

[DreamThrall]

lol that video was so goofy

 

[Tyguy]

How is it different than any other country?

 

[CyberPitz]

that video was retarded...I mean...christ...that made the army look fun!!

 

[Absinthe]

Let them put their shit on Youtube. Who cares.

If you possess any capacity for critical thinking, you'll see through the bull. If you don't, you're probably already buying into the image of Iraq as a paradise of sunshine and candy canes, and one little online video isn't going to make a difference.

 

[CptStern]

well recruitment has gone down so there's some glimmer of hope


and this has nothing to do with whether something is moral or not. This has everything to do with the military trying to control their image Youtube ..which is traditionally critical of it's current role specifically from it's own members ..an image carefully created to provide potential recruitees with a glorified unrealistic picture of what army life is like ...sure smarter minds will prevail but I submit that that demographic isnt the target audience anyways ..

 

[smwScott]

That video was pretty funny. They should hire Michael Bay to do their propaganda.

But I fail to see what the big deal is. Propaganda like this has always existed. A large part of the military recruiting scheme, in every country, is to prey on those who would buy into this image. That's just the way it is.

 

[gick]

Of course its full of futuristic stuff - thats a FCS (Future Comabt Systems) ad. In fact, I have a feeling that abc news may have got the wrong end of the stick here - that video is identical to the ones DARPA put out a while ago in order to attract investors to the program, I think it may be one of those. Its certainly not like any US Army recruitment ad ive ever seen. It doesnt even say anything like 'Join the Army' at the end, it says Army/Defense/Industry. I'll see if I can dig up any of the other FCS ads, im pretty certain its just another one of those.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Why is it that the US army has tried to recruit me on several occasions using my hotmail account?

 

[knut]

Cool, a new Ghost Recon.

Seriously though, I think Gick's right. This is FCS trailer. If people want to join up because of this, sure, okay... go ahead. But otherwise, I'd say this is more of a demonstration video of equipment.

EDIT: The ending reminded me so much of Starship Troopers, though.

 

[Solaris]

I like how its all the Americans have these super fun gadgets and are whepow send in the flying robot, autotarget the artilerry, blow them up. And "the bad guys(they actually say this)" are all" KEPUMPY!".

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Since when do they allow rookies to hold 1000 dollars worth of equipment?

 

[knut]

Since when do they allow rookies to hold 1000 dollars worth of equipment?

Rookies? In British Army terms, the Armoured Corps use 2 million pound Challenger 2 MBT's that people drive, shoot, load and commander after 2 years of training. The soldiers using those... well, upgraded tanks as seen in the video could of had 2, 3 or 4 years training. Who knows? Apache pilots fly 2 million pounds worth of equipment after several years training, gunners in the Artillery fire/maintain after 2 or so years... etc, etc.

The guys in this video are trained in the equipment they used, which goes for everything in the Army, old or new.

 

[theotherguy]

I love how they're fighting chinese with cold war era weapons as the US military has all this expensive futuretech (looks like 2030 at least)

 

[Sebastian]

I thought this video was pretty entertaining. It reminded me of a live-action GRAW movie. Those army guys can actually make some pretty good videos.

 

[63]

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want somebody watching my back who was recruited from YouTube.

"omg lol tehr is terrorist in thewindow hah their gay FAKEFAKEFAKE!!!!@"

 

[Seppo]

Man the military is everywhere. They certainly know their shit

 

[brink's]

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want somebody watching my back who was recruited from YouTube.

"omg lol tehr is terrorist in thewindow hah their gay FAKEFAKEFAKE!!!!@"

Soldier 1 " In pinned down in an abandon building on the north side of the city, im badly injured and require medical attention fast!! Over."

Youtube recruit " PLEASE DON'T LISTEN TO THIS. You will get kissed on the nearest possible Friday by the love of your life. Tomorrow will be the best day of your life. However, if you don't tell this comment to at least 3 other soldiers, you will die within 2 days. Spread this message, to be saved, Over"

Soldier 1 " For ****sakes"

 

[Shodan]

"A... friend?"
"THE UNITED STATES ARMY."

*Patriotic music plays

Ah god that made me laugh.

It reminded me of one of those parody videos on the Simpsons, staring Troy Maclure.

 

[<RJMC>]

I allways found kind of scary that the USA army focus so much on making ads

dam whoever dont see the big propandistic purpose on that is dumb
for example whhy not put the enemy whit a similiar technology that the americans?
why not made them white too?
why not show dead americans?

but yeah the people just go
"oh yeah explotions yeah! that ruelz!"
while a army enlister arrives and put the papers and say
"sign here"
and the people blindly sign the papers while looking the video whitout realizing what they where doing

here in my country they just shows images of soldiers and patriotics verse

but seriously whit stuff like that the crazy comspiracy theories dont sound so crazy

EDIT:sure a movie like saving private ryan shows more reality thant that video

 

[mindless_moder]

I allways found kind of scary that the USA army focus so much on making ads

dam whoever dont see the big propandistic purpose on that is dumb
for example whhy not put the enemy whit a similiar technology that the americans?
why not made them white too?
why not show dead americans?

but yeah the people just go
"oh yeah explotions yeah! that ruelz!"
while a army enlister arrives and put the papers and say
"sign here"
and the people blindly sign the papers while looking the video whitout realizing what they where doing

here in my country they just shows images of soldiers and patriotics verse

but seriously whit stuff like that the crazy comspiracy theories dont sound so crazy

EDIT:sure a movie like saving private ryan shows more reality thant that video

don't mean to disagree with your statement but there arent a whole lot of countries with a well developed military that are in opposition to the US.

 

[63]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r_6vK_JSSTo

Canadian ads ftw. They don't look like BF2142 trailers.

 

[gick]

don't mean to disagree with your statement but there arent a whole lot of countries with a well developed military that are in opposition to the US.

Yeah. And the thing is, the US Army is going to have most of that kit operational in the next 10, maybe 15 years if they keep getting the funding. They are going to be able to totally dominate any military force on the planet, even more so than they can do now.

 

[Nemesis6]

The clips are actually pretty cool. There are four -

"Vanguard", "After Shock", "Safehouse", and "North Korea 2014". Just saw them all. Awesome. But pretty Ghost Recon I agree.

 

[Krynn72]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=r_6vK_JSSTo

Canadian ads ftw. They don't look like BF2142 trailers.

See Stern? Your military makes much more effective propaganda!

 

[CptStern]

agreed ...even I want to join ..





no

 

[DreamThrall]

haha... you crazy canadians... <3

 

[Sulkdodds]

Vanguards? Why is there an S? Why not 'Vanguard'? That's stupid.

And are they playing Armed Assault?

Anyway, I don't care that they produce silly dumb videos. The significant thing here is, it seems, the marked contrast between 'a soldier's view' and 'a soldier's view as sanctioned by the US army'. There are thousands of soldiers on the ground every day filming their own footage and sending it out, and it is putting an unnacceptable face on the war - so the US army aims quite clearly to redefine what the war is like in the public consciousness by, if this actually is a recruitment video and not a defence corp ad, promoting a bruckheimeresque explosions and heroics do as "a realistic vision of what a soldier's life is like."

The quotes tell it all: the aim is to undermine the authenticity of negative, homebrew videos by promoting an all-new platform for 'real' footage direct from the front lines, showing you what things are really like...if they are censored and sanctioned by the army.

Which isn't very nice.

The dialogue is terrible too!

 

[repiV]

Newsflash: adverts in bending of truth shocker.

Anyone who uses cold, hard facts to recruit deserves to be shot for incompetence...perhaps they could use the footage for another video some day.
Any semi-competent recruitment consultant you've ever dealt with in your life has also exaggerated the truth.
The only valid question here is, are they going to attract the target audience they actually want? I doubt it.

 

[Pajari]

And are they playing Armed Assault?

Armed Assault is more realistic than this video. And awesome too.

But yeah. When I first saw this I thought it was more of a demonstration of where the Army would like to be in ten years, not an advertisement.

Also, it's hilariously masturbatorial. "We're not chasing insurgents anymore, guys. Let's suit up in ridiculously high-tech equipment and fight the exact precise enemy in the exact precise environment for which all of our completely flawlessly integrated and functional technology that never, ever breaks down was designed for."

This is basically what happens when a four-star lies in bed at night and whispers softly to himself about how awesome things would have been had the Russkies came swarming through the Fulda Gap in west Germany back in the 80's. This is more or less his wet dream.

 

[sinkoman]

Newsflash: adverts in bending of truth shocker.

Anyone who uses cold, hard facts to recruit deserves to be shot for incompetence...perhaps they could use the footage for another video some day.
Any semi-competent recruitment consultant you've ever dealt with in your life has also exaggerated the truth.
The only valid question here is, are they going to attract the target audience they actually want? I doubt it.

It's not that they're being untruthful in their recruitment ads, it's that they're censoring and trying to undermine videos showing what really goes on down there.

 

[Sulkdodds]

And then claiming that their version is uncut and unbiased and a realistic view of life on the ground.

 

[repiV]

It's not that they're being untruthful in their recruitment ads, it's that they're censoring and trying to undermine videos showing what really goes on down there.

If you were an employer, would you let your employees release videos presenting a negative public image of your company?