The U.S. Army is changing their slogan to "Army Strong", will they get more recruits with that new slogan?

Question

The U.S. army will spend $1 Billion in five years for that change beginning in November, they say they had a disappointing recruiting year.

Where is my link ? My source is the Orlando Sentinel, Tuesday, October 10, 2006. The deal is with McCann Worldgroup. Do your own search RocknRoll.
Am I the first one to learn about it?

Answer 1

Thank you, Questioner, for substantiating your sources in an Edit - even though it should have been apparent from anyone following the news that such a change was occuring, and since your Question was so non-confrontational, that it should NEVER have been disputed without a search on open sources prior.

Now disregarding the crude commentary (i.e. "army of fags" by "Jacen miner" - homophobia usually being an indication of either a troubled mind or a legacy of being molested as a child), let us return to your question.

The $1 Billion they will spend is a pittance compared to what they have spent on trying to remake the Army - new uniform designs (and all the new equipment to match the "look") and all the wasted funding sent to Iraq and Afghanistan not going towards necessities (i.e. certain kinds of government contracts). What's really troubling is that the Army, like all the other service branches (with the possible exception of the Marine Corps) feel they have a need to appeal through the mass media and air flashy commericals and sponsor NASCAR teams. National service, it appears, can't be seen attractive unless dragons are being slain on mountaintops with swords.

The simplicity of the old recruitment posters (classic art, now) is gone, replaced by showy commercialism that is more indicative of pork being doled out to PR firms than anything else.

You may want to research the current administration's spending on PR firms for many of its political drives (i.e. "No Child Left Behind") ... the total should be in the ballpark of $2 Billion or more, not certain how the Army PR blitz would impact that.

As for the effectiveness of the "Army Strong" campaign, those of us in service regarded the "Army of One" slogan as a joke (the yellow and black color scheme that came with it was exceptionally ugly as well, reminding me and my own personally of an 80s rock band called "Stryper") and this new slogan will likely be no different. Recruitment is nowadays dependent on the motivation of the recruiting pool (i.e. income, college eligibility, career prospects) than it is on oohing and aahing over a commercial.

The Army will likely stay on course as it has been for the past few years - breaking even, barely. That $1 Billion could have been better spent.

Answer 2

There was no disappointing recruiting year, check out my first link. We reached our goals.

I have, however, included the link to the fox news story that sustantiates the $200M per year, 5 year contract. I don't know why this figure seems so expensive to some people, the military has to run advertisements on television, and ads are very expensive.

As an Army soldier, I can tell you that I disliked the previous slogan of "An Army of One" and people often poked fun at it. Many of us especially disliked the soldier running through the desert with his dogtags falling out. Many of us try to emphasize teamwork, flexibility and diversity as what makes the Army strong, and I really don't think that "Army of One" did that.

Will "Army Strong" work? That remains to be seen, but it comes across to me much better than "Army of One" did.

Answer 3

Well honestly I think that slogan is just as stupid as the "Army of One". Just my opinon though. I think the military branches should stick to one idea and follow it. I am saying this both for the Army and the AF. We are both constantly trying to change our slogans, symbols, and uniforms for no reason other then its some higher ups job and he/she is getting bored.

Answer 4

It's better than an Army of One. That was so STUPID. Sounds like F your battle buddy and look out for number one. But then again, the new slogan sounds gay too.

Answer 5

I don't get it. It sounds like a caveman making a pitch. We should resort to the draft and the new slogan should be BETWEEN 18 AND 25 MALES REPORT TO NEAREST RECRUITING OFFICE OR BE ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED

Answer 6

They fail repeatedly with their slogans, the one that everyone remembers though is "be all you can be" and thats almost 2 decades old and people STILL remember it, i think they need to return to it- the army of one slogan was a flop.

Answer 7

Here's a slogan for the army: "If you in any way support this ridiculous sham of a war or this abomination of a president, why not pick up a gun and serve the freakin cause you freakin hypocrite?! Why not do it yourself, or better yet, send your children to fight?"

I'm sure that our military would then swell up wth college republicans and children of rich war profiteers.

Answer 8

the army should change their slogan to The Army of Dumb! Ever since the air force left the army has gotten dumber and dumber

Answer 9

Time will tell and where is your link on the One Billion
Dollar figure????

Answer 10

i can only hope that it will. we are looking real weak to other countries around the world we need to reinforce our military quickly.