Stephen W. sent in a link to a music video promoting the National Guard. He saw the video before a screening of Taken in Sioux Falls, SD. At the moment, the National Guard website (warning: noisy) features Kid Rock and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The opening graphics, set to a snippet of Rock’s Warrior, feature a military helicopter followed by a race car and then a picture of an anonymous African-American National Guard member with the rock star and car star:
A few clicks into the website leads you to this music video:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeVt4j_T7-8[/youtube]
In the photographs made available, pictures of Kid Rock’s life as a rock star are mixed with pictures of people in the National Guard, and the lines between the two blur:
Some observations on the marketing of military service:
First, the glorification of military service is an American phenomenon. (See this post which features an American and a Swedish military recruitment commercial back-to-back. The difference is quite amazing.) In this video, the glorification is particularly acute when the light-skinned driver of the Hummer manages to avoid hitting the blue-eyed, olive-skinned, dark-haired boy and then comes out with his giant gun to kick the ball back to him, inspiring a look of awe from the child who’s country he is likely (given the politics in the last 8 years) invading. We’re left, assured, that the U.S. military are all around good folk.
Second, in this case we have military service being marketed with celebrity tie-ins. The website deliberately blurs the line between being a famous rock star, a celebrated race car driver, and a member of the National Guard. Similarly, this Air Force recruitment ad blurs the line between various extreme sports and military service:
These links between military service, skateboarding, and being a rock star are disingenuous, to say the least. And it reminds me of a series of recruitment ads I’ve been seeing lately that highlight the super cool jobs you could end up doing in the Air Force (like being a fighter pilot). I don’t know about you, but both of my family members who joined the military (in their cases, the Army) ended up being bus drivers.
Third, which celebrities are being used to market the National Guard tells us something about who they are trying to recruit. Clearly, they are reaching out to young, working class, perhaps rural, white men. This is not part of the National Guard marketing aimed specifically at this group, the entire National Guard website (warning: noisy), at this time, is entirely devoted to this theme. It speaks to who fights American wars? Studies have shown that, while once military service was required of elites, this changed during Vietnam. Today military service is overwhelmingly performed by working- and middle-class men.
Finally, the re-framing of the role from “soldier” to “warrior,” one who wages war, is very interesting. I’d love to hear your thoughts about this.
More fodder for discussion, if you need it:
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 15
Chris — February 9, 2009
"Warrior" is often interpreted in a martial arts sense, one who will rush into battle to protect the weak, restore justice, etc. A "soldier" blindly follows orders and won't act (in a beneficial way) unless ordered to. No comment on how well that fits recent reality.
What's really sad is that it was, until recently, an accurate statement. The -reserves- were ex-military personnel who could be called up on need, but the -national guard- was intended as a domestic force that focused on "law and order" type stuff. Disaster relief, supporting local law enforcement during civil unrest, etc. Sometimes we disagree with how they were used (e.g., blocking schools from black students in the south), but it was clearly a domestic issue involving the orders from the governor.
This was the explicit expectation of many NG volunteers. They signed up to help in case of natural disasters and such, not to be deployed multiple times to a foreign country.
The guard can be nationalized and deployed as part of the military, but this had been considered an unusual case historically. There was actually a law prohibiting the foreign deployment of NG units until Vietnam (iirc), I think as a way to keep the size of the "military" down to placate opponents. Deploying NG units gives you a lot more troops without bothering to give them benefits, admit you have a larger military than what the critics believe, etc.
There's been recent talk of reintroducing that law, perhaps as a backdoor way to get our troops out of Iraq, but I don't know how far it's gotten.
drewboy — February 9, 2009
Nice example of horsecarting (as in which before the other).
Something is marketed only to demographic X, because it is only demographic X that consumes it, because it is marketed only to demographic X ...
Oh, snap on me, there *is* a woman in the bottom-most picture in the post.
eric — February 9, 2009
I wonder if either Dale Jr. or Kid Rock actually serve(d) in the Guard or other military branch? Perhaps the ad answers that question, but there's no way I'm subjecting myself to the awfulness of Kid Rock's crappy music!
Vettekaas — February 9, 2009
ah I saw that Kid Rock video in the movie theater last fall. it profoundly shocked me.... and I looked around to my fellow movie go-ers but nobody looked as disturbed as I was....
OP Minded — February 9, 2009
"We’re left, assured, that the U.S. military are all around good folk."
Ummm, they are.
ginsoak — February 9, 2009
"...all around good folk."?
http://www.stopmilitaryrape.org/
gexx — February 9, 2009
I have issues with the way the military seems to perpetuate the whole concept of "the other" and also not actively keep their soldiers informed of *everything* that is going on. I've witnessed this with many people, but in talking with my brother who recently returned from Iraq I realized this to a new point. There was no second thought about taking civilian's chickens or garden produce even thought he would be returning to his base with a full mess and a Baskin Robbins. The thinking was that he was a soldier, they were just Iraqis. He didn't believe things going on down at Gitmo, and he had never even heard of Darfur. It was honestly disturbing and made me realize that there must be many US Soldiers (and I know many around the world, surely) who feel that they are protecting some higher ideal but aren't brought past ethnocentrism or learn about the whole world's events.
This demographic, students now being recruited from high school or graduated very recently, were in Jr High or younger when 9-11 kicked off this xenophobic nationalism. They don't know any other way than the Axis of Evil and binary patriotism. And now pop icons are supporting this vision.
OPminded — February 9, 2009
ginsoak:
Oh goodie, now we've moved from "all men are rapist" to "all military personnel are rapists".
What a great group of commenters...
ginsoak — February 9, 2009
Never said “all military personnel are rapists”, but the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Securitydid say "One in three women in the military will be sexual assaulted, 66% will be sexually harassed, and sex offenders accounted for 1 in 3 prisoners held in military correctional facilities."
That's a bit different than "the U.S. military are all around good folk.”
Evie — February 10, 2009
The reason they are targeting the working-class white men they are targeting might have something to do with the fact that these are the people who are most likely to come from communities that view the military in a positive light. I know that there are members of the National Guard who come from all over the United States, but aren't there certain communities in the US which view the military in a favourable light i.e. as a good career choice and benevolent force, or at least are more inclined to do so than other communities in the US?
In any case, I think targeting young people in this way, who will receive many benefits but will also have to make many sacrifices should they choose to enlist, is unconscionable. The military should be making clear what will be required of prospective enlistees and the daily realities of military life. Surely they should be looking for conscientious individuals who have made the decision to enlist in full knowledge of the sacrifices and realities of the military, surely this could only make the US military stronger. Though I admit, it might make recruitment more difficult.
Muzzy — February 11, 2009
you people are acting like the millitary is twisting arms to get people to join...last I checked no one's been drafted in recent history. And as to making sacrifices to recieve benefits, it's called the SERVICE for a reason. Every single person knows the risks involved when they sign up, but they do it anyways.
Meraydia — February 11, 2009
Muzzy, some don't have many other options though. Many join because their communities (often mired in poverty) have little other opportunity besides WalMart and McDonald's. At the very least the military provides you with job training opportunities and possibly a career. However the downside is you'll be canon fodder until your contract runs up.
Also maybe important to bring up the lyrics from Kid Rock's song 'Amen':
"And how can we seek salvation when our nations race relations
Got me feeling guilty of being white"
When I first heard this I wondered if he felt guilty about how badly American's treat those of different racial backgrounds, or did he, like many other whites, feel tired of being reminded about the privilege that we have due to our skin? I'm leaning towards the later, and find it an interesting intersection with his inclusion in the promotion of military service that often recruits in areas that are poor and disproportionately POC. He may be angry that you make him feel guilty about his privilege, but it sure wont stop him from trying to get you to die for him and the nation that seems to disrespect POC and other marginalized groups at every turn!
Sorry I derailed a bit, that song was bugging me!
KidDrew — February 11, 2009
On the other hand, I used to work for the "Campus Escort" service, yes, taking people safely around campus after dark. Of course that didn't deter a steady stream of jokers from calling to ask whether we weren't a different type of escort service.
So then I always chuckled at the Kid Rock line: "Start an escort service for all the right reasons".
Muzzy — February 13, 2009
Or we could stop the "bad Whitey" rhetoric that has been going on for the last umpteen years and actually treat each other equally. Racism goes both way (RE Rev. Wright, Al Sharpton, etc.) I think this attitude of the victimization of America is exactly what is wrong our country today. Life sucks at time, people make decisions and then live with them. It may suck if you feel you have to join the millitary, but you dont have to.
northpal — February 25, 2009
kid rock is another example of a New World Order DUPE!