Last month, the U.S. Army awarded adman Earl Carter the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal. Carter created the Army’s “Be All You Can Be” slogan more than 20 years ago while at N.W. Ayer.
It was a heck of a slogan, if only for sheer durability. “Be All You Can Be” graced recruitment print ads, television commercials and “millions” of direct mail pieces until it was phased out in 2001, according to an Army spokesperson. By comparison, McDonalds has had nine in the same time period.
It may be that the Army’s “product” doesn’t lend itself quite as easily to catchy jingles. As Rush Limbaugh once observed, “The purpose of the military is to kill people and break things.” Most marketers would be challenged to find a jingle that encompasses that and still makes people tap their toes.
The Army’s ads usually featured its direct response number, 1-800-USA-ARMY, which was selected after someone pointed out that the first choice, 800-PUSHUPS, might be a bit of a turnoff to all but the most dedicated bodybuilders.
I can say from personal experience that Army mailing pieces I received in the early 1980s didn’t cause me to jump up and enlist. At my father’s request, I turned over most of my recruitment direct mail to him. He would diligently fill them out, indicating that he graduated from high school in 1950, and send them back in hopes of receiving the free tube socks, or whatever other items the Army was offering.
He never did receive them, but his wife got several calls from very puzzled recruitment officers.
America faces the prospect of an even-further economic downward spiral, men and women being gassed in southern Iraq and no free tube socks. Is it any wonder people spent last weekend marching?
To respond to the opinions in this column, please contact rlevey@primediabusiness.com
