Hmm, Sweden's commercial seems kind of like a PTSD nightmare.

These are so interesting-- thanks for posting them, Lisa!

The most striking difference between these ads to me is what these commercials choose to show and what they don't show to recruit new members.

The Marines' commercial focuses on the duty, bravery, glory, honor aspects of service. And this is entirely focused inward-- toward the Marines and the country's goals (and in that order-- Marines' loyalties are to "unit, Corps, God and country" in that order). Where is the "other" in this commercial (that is such a part of the Sweden commercial)? Who is the "for honor" for? Who is the "for courage" for? It seems implicitly to be to the corps.

This is right in line with most Marine discourse. All of their recruitment info is the same-- the focus is on the corps, and on the highly specialized ways Marines serve. As a popular Marine slogan says "The USMC: When it absolutely, positively must be destroyed overnight."

And the Swedish commercial is even more fascinating. There is no focus on the actual members of the Nordic Battlegroup. Instead it is all about everyday people-- both in Sweden and in countries experiencing conflict. The focus is on the privilege of living in a country not at war ("everybody's everyday is not like ours").

The images of war in this commercial are disturbing-- hectic, scary and out of control. This is the exact opposite of the Marine commercial where everything is ordered and organized and machines (helicopters, guns) are shown as extension of this order and control-- instead of in a context of chaos. There's a HUGE disconnect between the weapons shown and what they actually DO during war.

War in all its chaos is present in the Swedish commercial, and absent from the Marines commercial. That in and of itself is interesting.

just my 2 cents!

i'm not so sure how the sweedish commercial is supposed to encourage people to join the nordic battlegroup. unless its purpose is to prevent war or something? i'm not criticizing the corps or the battlegroup--i just don't get it!

@anonymous

Yes, it is more like a peace corps commercial, isn't it? The point of that commercial is to join the battlegroup to help people less fortunate. The Swedish commercial is so different than anything we'd see here for the military, it is almost unrecognizable as a military recruitment advertisement (from the US perspective, anyway)!

Ah the good ol' US perspective. I was expecting some women in bikinis in the Swedish commercial... I am so embarrassed. Sorry Sweden.

As a swede, I can verify that the Nordic Battlegroup is more a peacecorp than anything else. In fact the swedish military defense is being slowly dismantled and the remainder converted to an international strike team. Sweden seems to be relying on the same defensive strategy as a tortoise: not being worth the trouble.:) Its not like we could really figth off a large invasion anyway. The only other option is to develop nukes as a deterrant, a fad which never really caught on in my country.

But we could if we wanted to!
/Whodunnit

Marines' loyalties are to "unit, Corps, God and country" in that order)

Not so much the god stuff. Aside from almost-mandatory chapel in boot camp and unit chaplins ... God doesn't come up in the training material.

Or such is my perspective from serving 1985-1993. YMMV.

Its interesting that in recent history, the marine corp as on organization has a lot more experience with chaos, danger,casualties and other realities of war than the Swedish military. And yet the focus of the commercials is exactly the opposite.

I can see how the Swedish commercial encourages enlistment. Sweden is generally more left-wing than the US, I suspect that there are far fewer Swedish people (as a percentage of their population) who would be attracted to the "duty, honour, courage" rhetoric than there are in America. I doubt there are communities in Sweden which are attracted to the military, feel comfortable with the military, consider the military a great career choice, and view the military as a force for good within their own communities and country as well as overseas. In the US, such communities are a strong subset of American society.

The Swedish commercial is invoking the idea that Westerners should realise that many other human beings are much less fortunate than they are, and suggests that young Swedes can help these less fortunate people through military service, an idea that is likely to resonate with the left-wing youth of Sweden.

Also, I forgot to say that I think the violence is present in the Swedish ads because Swedes (being more left-wing) might be inherently more cynical about the virtues of military service and would resent the lack of violence in the ads, as it would seem rather like white-washing to people already inclined to think of civilian casualties, the notion of "just war" and the efficacy and costs of war. The Swedish military are therefore taking the war is a necessary evil approach rather than glorifying war because that would not produce good recruitment results for them given their situation.

i've never believed that war is glorious, so i vastly approve of the swedish ad. it was uncomfortable to watch, but i feel it has the correct focus.

as a side note: i think i was 13 when i realized that in most movies the enemies are dehumanized. i distinctly remember watching top gun with my church youth group and noticing that the enemies' helmets were black and opaque, while the "heros" had personalized helmets that made each character distinct.

most of the group i was with cheered when an enemy was shot down. i thought it was unfair to present such a one-sided view.

i felt like i was watching a movie trailer when i saw the ad for the marines. that is not a good thing.