Army Strong

Ok, I haven't been blogging for a while due to my apparent inability to read the syllabus, but The Stevo is back! and better than ever. Today's blog is for September 20th, concerning an analysis of an ad or commercial. Well, I found an ad that I'm sure you all see every time you turn on the TV. This is an army recruitment ad that made a tear swell up in my eye in memory of my time in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.



There is definitely a purpose to this ad and it does not take much to discover it.

"JOIN THE ARMY-YOU WILL BE STRONG!"

The message is gotten across in a few ways: 1) The ad interjects portions of text in a bold yellow color against a black background defining and redefining the word "strong". 2) The portions of the video that are not text-based are clips of soldiers or recruits doing the fun kind of stuff people do when training to be a soldier. Jumping out of planes, riding in tanks, building bridges, and looking genuinely hard-core in those smart-looking uniforms. 3) The music playing in the background is highly reminiscent of film soundtracks that play at the hero's triumphant success or conquering moment near the end of the movie when everyone else is getting up to leave to beat the traffic. The music really draws on that media-ism and uses it to place the would-be recruit in the heroic position.

The editing in this clip is not complex at all. There are several action shots that depict people doing things that a recruit would find fun or challenging. Between those action shots, text is injected to boost morale and tell you how strong you will be once you are enlisted. Combined with the epic soundtrack, this ad stands a fairly good chance at nabbing a few recruits from couch-potato America. Its just a simple ad with a simple message and simple editing techniques. Be Army Strong.

-The Stevo