Advertising. If anything, it is a defining feature in today’s society. From billboards, to magazines, to television and even product placement, advertising is an enormous industry and a dangerous one. It is dangerous because it is capable of reaching nearly the entire earth’s population, speak to them, convince them to buy not only products, but also, lifestyles, attitudes, and most importantly, ideology.

After looking at numerous advertisements for various products to decipher, one particular ad campaign stuck out, not because of its shock value, but because of what was being sold. When one thinks of advertising, one immediately thinks of the plethora of products being pitched to the viewer, indeed, the emotions attached to the products are abstract, but for the most part the products themselves are tangible. Whether it’s an ad for jeans or for a soft drink, these commodities can be purchased at your local supermarket or store. But what if the product itself is just as abstract and political as the denotative and connotative emotions attached to it? This is why for the sake of the challenge, this article will look at Army/Navy ad campaigns, within a very specific target audience that has a very complex socio-political history with the Army institution itself and the very society that it is a part of.

The medium that these ads where found in was a magazine called “The Source”, which is in their words, “the magazine of hip hop, culture, and politics”. The target audience of this magazine are people who are into hip hop culture and it’s various elements, ranging from rap music, to fashion. The Source also has a political overtone, mainly because its audience share the same socio-political background seeing that they are mainly minority youth, blacks and Hispanics living in the margins of American society. The magazine also deals specifically with the issues confronting this marginalized group, like the politics of being black in America and what that brings with it (i.e. discrimination, racism, etc.) while taking a somewhat of a black-nationalist approach made popular by people ranging from Malcolm X to Martine Luther King.. It is safe to say that The Source is a voice of dissent to White America. This is why it was interesting to study what kind of ad campaign was devised for the Army/Navy institution targeting specifically this audience, especially when taking into consideration not only their socio-economic background, but also the history of the Army itself with respects to African Americans.

The Buffalo soldier is not only a Bob Marley song. It is part of American history that includes the first regiment of black soldiers, way before they had civil rights. This segregated regiment called “The Buffalo Soldier” fought and died in wars at home and overseas in order to protect the very same rights and liberties that were not afforded to them back home. “Black soldiers, originally classified as labourers, not soldiers, at first received half the pay of white soldiers, despite what they had been promised at the moment of recruitment” (Redkey, 1993, p. 48). The historical relationship between the Army and their black soldiers is one that is tainted with racism and unjust discrimination. So why is it that even though blacks historically where brutalized by American institutions such as the Army and the police in times of unrest, do they still make up (along with Hispanics and other minorities) the majority of the present day Army and Navy? The answer lies in their socio-economic situation, and the advertisers not only know this, but also used it as an effective tool in their campaign. “…One cannot simply make any propaganda just anywhere, at anytime, or in any fashion. Without a certain milieu propaganda cannot exist…the most obvious of these are historical conditions” (Ellul, 1965, p. 88).

The lack of any real economic opportunities for the millions of black people living in ghettos all over America is the basis for this specific ad campaign. Blacks cannot find economic and social success as easily as whites do, especially ones that are born and live poor, with little or no access to proper education. With regards to higher education and even possibly a career, at one time it seemed like African Americans occupying the lower class of America rarely found themselves in college, unless they obtained scholarships or from playing sports. The rest of the population don’t have any real opportunities, and the ad campaign presents the Army as an institution that will fill this void.

What must be mentioned first is the fact that all of the ads discussed in this article share the same theme in relation with time, they are all set in the future, as if to tell the viewer that this is what the future holds for you if you join the Army. The first ad has a picture of a young black male in the foreground, holding binoculars as if looking into the future. One could immediately tell that he is in the future because he is shaded in a way that implies a dreamlike situation; he sticks out of the picture, with soft, blurry edges. He is dressed in a Navy uniform, with a proud look on his face. In the background is a picture of an aircraft carrier that looks more like a big cruise boat, behind it is what looks like a picturesque Mediterranean village, with blue skies hovering over it. Within the scenic blue skies lies a message: “You’re born, you go to school, and then one day things to being to get interesting”. The positioning of this message is critical because its connotative implications create an air of divine authority; it is as if God himself said it. The colours in this ad is also very revealing; from the ocean, to the skyline and the soldier’s uniform, everything is blue, which is very significant seeing that gender socialization for boys always includes the colour blue. Also in relation to gender socialization, the gender of the ad, as well as the person in it is masculine, and this is because like girls, “boys are given…gender role training, he is taught to act “like a man”… additionally, many curricular and extracurricular activities tend to be segregated by sex” (Robertson, 1989, p. 30). In this regard, the Army is a “masculine job”, and therefore it is fitting that a man is in the picture of the ad. Studying the Army’s sexist history, one could also argue that the Army’s ideal recruit is a man. (Plate 1:A)

The second advertisement bears many similarities with the first one. It too is blue, with a boat in the background and a black man in the foreground. What is interesting about this ad is the print, where its starts off by saying: “Prepare for college and beyond in the US Navy, you can earn up to $40,000 for college…” This says a lot about the socio-economic relationship between the target audience and America, and the Army is addressing the issue in a straightforward manner, in effect saying that they know that young blacks don’t have the same opportunities as whites, and the army will fill that void by educating and employing them. Education is an important factor in this ad because the man in the picture is wearing some kind of head set, which connotes the mastery of technology (through knowledge and education) that can be acquired when joining the Navy. (Plate 1:B)

Following in the theme of self-betterment, the third advertisement includes a background image of a young black boy, with a hood over his head and a chain, but ripping away from that image (done through an effect that looks like another image is ripping out of it) is another image of the same boy, who now is wearing a suit and a clean haircut, with a serious look on his face. In this ‘before and after’ design, the argument is furthered by the text which reads “Scratch the surface or a leader…”. (Plate 2: C)

The fourth image is that of a multi cultural group of Navy officers in the foreground, standing in front of a Navy ship and the American flag. They are all holding musical instruments and have big smiles of their faces. The viewer knows that although there is a white man in the picture, the ad tells a story of one of the black officers because there is a timeline that points to him. His name is Aaron Womack, we know this because his nametag is clear and his name is printed on the top of the timeline. At 19, the story goes, the journey begins, and then it goes to describe the career and academic success Aaron has enjoyed since joining the Navy, from playing with his band in Singapore to earning various certificates. (Plate 2: D).

What all the ads have in common is the often used method of framing which “essentially involves selection and salience. To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient…” (Entman, 1993, p. 52). The framing in the ads connote the idea of travel and adventure, and exclude pictures of weapons and the associations which accompany them; death, killing, injury, hardships, etc. Also, “by looking for the recurrent themes in how advertising portrays such people, we being to understand the idealized images constructed in the world of advertising” (O’Barr, 1994, p. 3). The idealized image is that of a refined and happy black man, finding success in the Army and Navy while experiencing the world through travel. And this image is communicated successfully through the use of photography, which is prevalent amongst all of them. “Photography is the chosen artistic mode for advertising because of its deceptive ability to present fictions as if they were realities” (Jib, 1996, p. 39).

The commodity being sold is an idea, one of happiness and success; it’s also a way out for poor black youths. Commodity fetishism is at work in these ads because it has taken out the original meaning of the army (death, killing, and also a symbol of oppression) and replaced it with a newer, happier one. And infusing the ads with an air of magic accomplishes their communications goal “Consumers are also manipulated by an advertisement’s promise that the product will do something special for them- something magical that will transform their lives” (Jhally et al., 1990, p. 25). The techniques used in all these ads share the same stylistic characteristics because of their overall message, which speaks to the target audience. In effect, they all tell the viewer to join the Army and Navy and receive what society itself cant give you but these institutions can, turning you from a poor black boy to a successful, educated and cultured black man.