The U.S. Army is “reinventing” its hugely successful “Be All You Can Be” recruiting campaign from the 1980s and 1990s to hopefully boost recruiting shortages during the last year.
The Army released a video of the new campaign Monday that, while keeping the famous tagline, talks more about individuals exploring their potential in different areas of the service.
“It means we strive to be a nation of limitless possibilities,” a female soldier said in the video.
The new campaign comes as the military is looking at a shortage of 15,000 recruits from its 60,000 goal this year, Miltary.com reported Monday.
"It has never been more important to recruit and retain the talented men and women who make our Army the world's greatest fighting force," the service's top enlisted leader, Sgt. Major of the Army Michael Grinston; the Army's top officer, Gen. James McConville; and Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said in a joint statement. "People are the United States Army's greatest strength and our number one priority. They enable us to fulfill our very purpose: protecting our Nation by being ready to fight and win the nation's wars."
Military leaders were looking at repurposing the classic campaign that helped launch the all-volunteer Army in 1981 and lasted as a successful recruiting tool until about 2000, according to the report.
The new campaign keeps its focus on soldiers in the field and the various combat disciplines rather than promoting pay or educational benefits like its predecessor did.
"I think if someone is after something strictly monetary, there are other options, but this highlights a call to service," Katherine Kuzminski, a military policy expert at Center for a New American Security, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, told Military.com. "For cyber, there is no bonus that can be offered that a tech company cannot provide. But showing how military service is unique can do something that increases interest."
Armyhistory.org said the original campaign television ads debuted during New Year’s Day college football games in 1981, and was developed at the time to address a similar 16,000 recruiting shortage in 1979.
The campaign, including its jingle and slogan ended up in 1999 being Advertising Age’s 18th top advertising campaign of the 20th century.
“We're not returning to ‘Be all you can be’ for nostalgia or old times’ sake or because we think retro is trendy and cool. We're really reinventing it to reposition the Army and to inspire the next generation soldiers,” Maj. Gen. Alex Fink, chief of Army enterprise marketing said told Stripes.com in December 2022.
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