The badly undermanned British Army is resorting to quite creative -- some say, demeaning -- advertising to entice more young men and women to beef-up its dwindling ranks.
The new recruitment ads that made their appearance yesterday mainly target the men and women of Generation Z or the post Millennials. The ads also target the older cohort called Generation Y or the Millennials. Generation Z is often defined as people born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s.
Born into the internet and living it daily, Gen Zers self-identify as being loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, open-minded, responsible and determined.
More derisively, Generation Z is mockingly called "Generation Snowflake" or the "Snowflake Generation." This, because Generation Zers are said to be more emotionally immature and have less psychological toughness than previous generations.
Most of Gen Z's characteristics aren't associated with martial qualities, which seem to explain the idea behind the new recruitment ads for the British Army.
The new British Army recruitment ads target 16- to 25-year-olds "looking for a job with purpose." With 16 years-old as the entry age for recruitment, the British Army has the lowest recruitment age of any European country.
New radio, TV and online ads seek to reassure potential recruits their perceived weaknesses are seen as strengths by the British Army. The ads take negative stereotypes about Generation Z and rebrand them as strengths. Self-centeredness is transformed into "self-belief; smartphone obsession becomes "focus" and selfies become "confidence."
Secretary of State for Defense Gavin Williamson called the campaign a "powerful call to action."
The ads are inspired by the famous First World War poster featuring a grim and mustached Lord Kitchener pointing at the viewer and saying, "Your country needs you."
The ads show six soldiers with labels of Millennial and Gen Z stereotypes -- "Snow Flakes," "Me Me Millennials," Binge Gamers," "Phone Zombies," "Selfie Addicts" and "Class Clowns" -- above the hallowed slogan "Your Army needs you" followed by a positive quality.
Part of a $1.9 million recruitment campaign for 2019, the aim of this campaign is to sign up Gen Zers and Millennials with compassion, self-belief and focus to boost falling numbers and widen the base of the 79,000-strong British Army.
"The Army sees people differently and we are proud to look beyond the stereotypes and spot the potential in young people, from compassion to self-belief," said Major Gen. Paul Nanson, Commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
"We understand the drive they have to succeed and recognize their need for a bigger sense of purpose in a job where they can do something meaningful."
