Has anybody seen the new Army recuitment ads?%^&^%#%!!!!

[jillan]

Last nite while watching tv, this ad comes on.

It's an african-american teenage boy. He sits down with his mother at the kitchen table. He says to her, (i'm improvising here-the ads are not on the web)
"Mom, I finally figured out a way that I can go to college"
The mom has a concerned look on her face.
The son says" Before you get mad, just listen."

At this point I have no clue where the commercial is heading!

Then _BOOM! I'll join the Army. They will pay for me to go to college and I can study anything I want!

Then the son says "Mom, it's time for me to be a man. I want you to be proud of me."

:evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown: :evilfrown:

Join the army - get a free college education!
Nowhere did it say AFTER you come back from Iraq!

HOW DARE THEY!

[MisterP]

1. and the "you'll only become trusted by your fellow firemen after napalming

people or rappelling up boards"

[Digit]

2. Heavy recruitment ads on tv and radio in my area, too eom

[OhioChick]

12. Here, as well. n/t

[Carolab]

13. Ditto here.

Saw it. Disgusting.

[yorkiemommie1]

3. they are horrible

i saw similar w/a white family. i shut it off.

[Bluebear]

4. Thanks for mentioning it piranha

Yes I *did* see it and was outraged. This is the way a minority youth can "go to college" according to Team Bush. They must lay odds whether they will ever have to actually shell out the tuition.

[getmeouttahere]

6. With pensions and possibly even SS disappearing....

we shouldn't assume that anyone would get their college money.

[solinvictus]

16. Hell, not just minority..

unless your family's loaded, no one can afford to go to university anymore. But of course, that's what the Repukes want, a return to the Good Old Days when only the rich kids had access to education.

[Tsiyu]

22. But then you look at Rich Connecticut boys like **

and you wonder why they WANT an education. I mean, they sure as hell don't USE what they learn....

[AmandaRuth]

5. I do find myself smiling when the soldiers in the commercials

say they are fighting for FREEDOM - uh, yeah, tell that to the Iraqi women.

[deadparrot]

7. Yeah, the kids and their parents...

Pure propaganda. I scream at the TV everytime it comes on.

[madrchsod]

8. "yes son ...."

"do you remember my older brother? the one who lives from shelter to shelter? well he was proud to serve in a war when he was your age. we were all proud that he was joining and now that has turned to regret."


yes it is a pretty fucking sick commercial

[Catherine Vincent]

9. I knew right away it was an Army ad when I first saw it.

There are others, and you can tell by the tone what they are. They are desperate with the ads but I am afraid a small percentage will make them feel all warm and fuzzy inside and sign up.

[RoyGBiv]

10. Okay, I understand your disgust ...

But...

This is not exactly new. The post-WWII GI-Bill, besides doing some very good things for the veterans of that war, created this marketing tactic. It wouldn't play quite as well as it does if the MSM were doing its job and fully informing young people what they're actually signing up to do.

It's a new commercial, yes, but it's the same theme they've used for years. I spent many months almost 20 years ago trying to get rid of a recruiter who used almost idential rhetoric on me, including showing me television commercials intended to put the deal in its best possible light.

[ProudDad]

11. Your tax dollars at work

Fuck the army, fuck the navy and fuck the air farce.

Lies, lies, lies...

The kind of money they're talking about for "college" wouldn't even get a kid through two years of junior college here in California.

Thanks to the repuke governors dukmajian, wilson, davis (repuke light) and the gropenfuhrer, support for education has plumeted in favor of building more prisons and tuition is unbelievable.

[poverlay]

14. They're all over in AZ,

It's disgusting. What kind of people actually fall for that sort of splat?

[jmowreader]

20. Black people who can't go to college any other way, that's who

Unfortunately, a lot of those kids who fall for "that sort of splat," as you so nicely put it, will come back from Iraq and go to college to study Computers.

If they're gonna do that they better minor in Hindu.

[WCGreen]

15. Grog Want see soldier man

fight fire beast with sword...

That man Grog want as friend....

Grog hate fire beast....

Grog know fire beast behind 9/11....

[mtnester]

17. When I saw the first one with the boy and his father

I was actually pissed as a parent. In a very subtle way, it made parents look...well I will use their word...unpatriotic...like it was we parents who are responsible for the lack of troops over there.

I don't know, maybe I went overboard, but even my husband uttered his favorite word when referring to this administrations...bastards.

When I saw the second one with the boy and his mother, it was reinforced. AND the second one, IMO, played on some false stereotypical beliefs (I am the man now stuff with a single mom, African American, no daddy around, etc) I hated it as much or even worse than the first one. It still believe there are subtle digs at parents again.

I don't like them, and I think as parents, we should be damned offended by them.

[anarchy1999]

18. This is an outrage! I know how you feel.

Peace

[B Calm]

19. If the soldier does make it back alive, I really doubt he or she

will get a FREE college education. They might get a LITTLE help with their education, but it won't be totally free. Before they even think of college they'll need help with their mental problems.

[DanCa]

21. I like the one where the boys talking to the old man

It's the army, no it's the national gaurd. I'll be able to attend school yada yada yada. It was so sardonicly funny. I blew my diet coke out at the tv screen.

[doodadem]

23. I was interviewing an engineer the other day

And he mentioned that his son is about to graduate from college. He said I know he'll be going to Iraq, as a number of his buddies have already gone.
Now.........since I am professional, I didn't scream, "Are you out of your goddamn mind? Why can't you talk him out of that?!" But you gotta wonder why a parent would still show a sense of pride in their kid signing up. I would guess that a. They've swallowed the bullshit, hook, line, and sinker, b. They are former military themselves and it's tradition in their family, and c. They are not paying attention, not believing, or ignoring, current events.

[nookiemonster]

24. Unbelievably, I think option "b" is a plausible scenario.

I'm a Vet, my father was a vet, my grandfather was a vet, etc.

At one time it was a noble tradition, indeed. Of course, that was before they were tools of corporate interests.

As a vet, it's very disheartening.