| Okay, how about "R ME!" |
[Oct. 10th, 2006|11:41 am] |
When the army replaced the slogan "Be All You Can Be" with "Army of One" it never caught on except as a fertile source of mockery and satire.
So the Army paid $200 million to McCann Worldgroup for new ad copy. McCann apparently decided the central concern is not potentially ironic meanings but length. Thus the new army tagline: ARMY STRONG.
Having previously jettisoned verbs and implied high standards for a three word appeal to ego,* the Army is now down to a noun and adjective** which seems to rebrand recruits as the human equivalent of Dodge Trucks.
Unless maybe you have some deep Russian voice speaking it: "Army strong - like bear!"
ARMY STRONG.
They are now trying to pick the central image for the new campaign. It's down to:
a) The Hulk
or
b) A really good cup of black coffee.
Personally, I think they're missing out on spokesperson who is not as obvious, but far more charming and persuasive:
___________________________
*"Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute research group, said the previous slogan seemed to promote the notion that you could join the Army and preserve your individuality.
"If you want to be an 'Army of One,' you probably want to join the Hells Angels, not the U.S. Army," he said."
**One million dollars per word. "Army strong, but army no cheap." |
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| Nerd Post AND Identity Politics Post |
[Oct. 10th, 2006|03:56 pm] |
The last time I wrote about Heroes the Japanese Nerd Who Can Warp Space And Time made me uncomfortable. I will admit I was a bit too quick and harsh to judge this. His character has been fleshed out and his less nerdy friend is now his sidekick. More importantly, the guy who plays the character is a big nerd who works for Industrial Light and Magic when he isn't doing comedy. I think my discomfort was slightly valid, but comparing him to Mickey Rooney was a straight up racist way of being politically correct and I apologize.
The show overall is much better than what one expects from Network TV taking on a comic book plot - i.e. not sabotaging the fantastic plot elements so they can focus on "character drama" which they think has wider appeal (yes, this is a Lost reference). They seem to have realized: 1. There are character driven plots, but character cannot exist outside of plot. 2. Most shows are fantastic in terms of huge plot holes - if audiences can accept Horatio Caine's Sunglasses Of Brooding Justice, they can handle dudes who fly.
HOWEVER
In episode three the story about The Indestructible Cheerleader involves an attempted rape as a key plot point. Three episodes and the two main female superheros have both been violently sexually assaulted.
I'm sorry, but that shit is fucked up. |
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