Gordon Brown must be finding it increasingly difficult to keep his promises, especially when it comes to delivering another 1,500 extra troops to Afghanistan this summer to please Obama. Unemployment of 18 -24 year olds stands at around 600,000, by far the biggest age group without gainful employment.
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Despite already spending nearly 400 million on adverts and spin during the last year "Gov" has now invested in its most adventurous campaign for Army Recruitment. The first of the adverts was carefully placed on Channel 4 tonight while Hollyoaks was being aired but this is no ordinary campaign.
After Populus had done its usual research to find out what it is our young men and women want out of their work, they came to this conclusion: "42% stated lack of skills and educational qualifications as the barrier to their desired career path and the bast majority of 17-21 year old are aware that they have more to learn about their personal skills and weaknesses."
This campaign targets that age group by challenging them in a Counterstrike or Doom type game online.
The "Start Thinking Soldier Campaign" launches with the first in a series of four TV commercials that will roll out
consecutively over a four month period: each unlocking a corresponding online mission. Each commercial brings to life one of four key areas of Army expertise including teamwork, decision making, leadership and fitness & mental sharpness. At the end of each film, the viewer is presented with a decision making dilemma and is asked to decide “What would you do?” from a choice of three options. The first mission features an explosives factory in the desert. As the viewer approaches the factory they are given the options: to burst in through the doors, to carry out an air strike or to blow a hole in the wall. Each commercial concludes with a voice-over stating “Show us your Army skills….Start Thinking Soldier. Online.” Once online, you make your choice and are given immediate feedback on your decision. You then go on to take part in a whole range of online challenges that test a variety of skills including observation, problem solving, intelligence, memory, navigation, and awareness - all resulting in detailed feedback on your own performance and natural skills and weaknesses.
I tried to register, but it was broken, duh!I think getting kids to join the army by conning them into thinking its going to be like Doom or Counterstrike is pretty damn sick. I can just picture the "quango/working group" thinking that kids this age group are all going to be at home playing war games on the computer while they don't have a job.. it makes me shudder!
I wonder how much this one has cost the taxpayer? I can't help thinking the money should have be spent on equipment or aftercare for those who return damaged for life.
I seem to remember the EU having a bee in their bonnet about these sorts of games in the past.......funny how attitudes change when you expect young people to risk their lives "for their country".
Any way we can organise a million pensioners to register, go online and decide that their next action would be to kill their officers and march on parliament?
ReplyDeleteOnce that nasty is done all of the "online soldiers" could then have a nap, a cup of tea and a stroll around with the dog or something.
The cynicism of this government and previous governments makes me bilious. The armed forces used to be staffed by older "adult" people with careers and enough life experience to make informed choices. They, of course, cost what adults cost to employ and were racking up pensions and such for the future. Remember that huge purge the forces had ten or fifteen years ago? Loads of redundancies. They took on schoolies and young n'er do wells instead to save money and, hey ho - look at the difficulty they have recruiting now since they've started half a dozen new wars where people actually die horribly instead of just moving onto "life 2" or 3 or 4 or "save game".
Be ware the new press gangs, not long until some peer suggests National Service or pressing the prison population. The process of government is in deep, deep, do-do - they'll have no more shame about snaring cannon fodder than they have about anything else.
A million pensioners every day
Log on to a game of Doom and say
Feck this, we're off for a nap ...