Slogans of the United States Army

Last updated

This World War I recruitment poster by James Montgomery Flagg, with more than four million copies printed in 1917 and 1918, defined not only an Army recruiting slogan, but also Uncle Sam's image for years to come. J. M. Flagg, I Want You for U.S. Army poster (1917).jpg
This World War I recruitment poster by James Montgomery Flagg, with more than four million copies printed in 1917 and 1918, defined not only an Army recruiting slogan, but also Uncle Sam's image for years to come.
U.S. Army TV advertisement from 1986 using the "Be All You Can Be!" slogan

Slogans of the United States Army changed rarely in the 20th century, relative to the 21st.

Contents

World War I

"I Want YOU for US Army" featured on a poster of Uncle Sam painted by James Montgomery Flagg.

1950s–1971

"Choice, Not Chance" and "Modern Army Green" were both used as slogans to advertise for having the choice of job training, travel, and branch and to highlight the newly introduced Class A Uniform, respectively. Public announcements on broadcast television, and highway roadway signs advertised slogans during a time of a national draft of young men 18 to 34 years of age. The advantage of volunteering for service as opposed to being drafted was the option to choose which career field you wanted to serve in along with the first unit and/or location of assignment.

1971 to 1980

"Today's Army Wants You" and "Today's Army Wants to Join You" were recruiting slogans from the 1971 Volunteer Army (Project VOLAR) campaign, introduced as the country prepared to transition to an all-volunteer military. When N. W. Ayer & Son, who were engaged by the US Army, believed they felt the army said "Today's Army is changing; we want to meet you half way", the firm came up with that slogan. General William Westmoreland asked "Do we have to ask it that way?" but agreed to the campaign. The slogan was replaced by "Join the People Who've Joined the Army" in 1973, which later evolved into "This is the Army." [3]

Slogan was written in 1971 by Ted Regan Jr., Executive Vice President and Executive Creative Director of N.W. Ayer, the Army's ad agency. Regan also wrote the follow-up slogan, "Join the people who've joined the Army.'

1980 to 2001

"Be All That You Can Be" was the recruiting slogan of the United States Army for over twenty years. [4] Earl Carter (pen-name, E.N.J. Carter) working for the N. W. Ayer Advertising Agency as a Senior Copywriter created the "Be All You Can Be" theme line in 1980. [5] Its accompanying music was written by Jake Holmes. [6] [7] [ better source needed ] In January 2003, the U.S. Army awarded Carter its Outstanding Civilian Service Award. [8] Carter's original concept sheet, with words "Be All That You Can Be", is now part of a permanent collection at the US Army Heritage Center Foundation.

In 2023, The U.S Army decided to bring back the slogan for newer recruitment campaigns. [9]

2001 to 2006

A Humvee wrapped with the slogan in April 2006 Humvee with United States Army slogan.JPG
A Humvee wrapped with the slogan in April 2006

"Army of ONE" was a relatively short-lived recruiting slogan. Misunderstood, it was for Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Enlisted.[ citation needed ] It replaced the popular "Be All You Can Be" and was replaced in 2006 by the new slogan "Army Strong". [10] The reason for the replacement, states Frank Luntz, is that the slogan "Army of One" is contrary to the idea of teamwork. [11]

2006 to 2018

The "Army Strong" advertising campaign's debut video, released in October 2006.

"Army Strong" was the recruiting slogan used for more than a decade by the United States Army. The composer of the music used in the Army Strong television advertisements is Mark Isham. [12]

2018 to 2023

The Army debuted a new recruiting slogan, "Warriors Wanted," in October 2018. [13] [14] The Army updated the recruiting slogan to "What's Your Warrior?" in 2019. The slogan launched on broadcast, print and digital properties in November 2019 and used "soldier stories" to persuade youths to enlist. [15]

2023 to present

The Army has returned to the recruiting slogan of "Be All You Can Be." The effective date is March 8, 2023. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald McRaney</span> American actor (born 1947)

Gerald Lee McRaney is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows Simon & Simon, Major Dad, Promised Land and House of Cards. He most recently starred as Admiral Hollace Kilbride on NCIS: Los Angeles. He was a series regular in the first season of Jericho and the final season of Deadwood. He appeared in a recurring role as main antagonist Mason Wood in season eight of Castle. Recently, he played Barlow Connally in the A&E series Longmire and had a recurring role in the NBC series This Is Us as Dr. Nathan Katowski, a role which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ad Council</span> American nonprofit organization

The Advertising Council, commonly known as the Ad Council, is an American nonprofit organization that produces, distributes, and promotes public service announcements on behalf of various sponsors, including nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations and agencies of the United States government.

"One weekend a month, two weeks a year" is a former recruiting slogan used by the U.S. Army National Guard. It indicated the amount of time an individual would need to spend actively in the Guard to be a Guardsman with benefits. Though never officially, it was also informally used by Air National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, U.S. Naval Reserve, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, U.S. Air Force Reserve and U.S. Coast Guard Reserve personnel in describing their similar military time commitment.

N. W. Ayer & Son was a Philadelphia advertising agency founded in 1869. It called itself the oldest advertising agency in the United States. Named by Francis Ayer after his father N. W. Ayer, it ventured into advertising in 1884. It created a number of memorable slogans for firms such as De Beers, AT&T and the U.S. Army. The company started to decline in the 1960s and, after a series of mergers, closed in 2002 with its assets sold to the Publicis Groupe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escape (The Piña Colada Song)</span> 1979 single by Rupert Holmes

"Escape " is a song written and performed by British-American singer-songwriter Rupert Holmes taken from his fifth studio album Partners in Crime (1979). As the lead single for the album, the pop song was recommended by Billboard for radio broadcasters on September 29, 1979, then added to prominent US radio playlists during October–November. Rising in popularity, the song peaked at the end of December to become the final US number-one song of the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Think different</span> Slogan by Apple Inc.

"Think different" is an advertising slogan used from 1997 to 2002 by Apple Computer, Inc., now named Apple Inc. The campaign was created by the Los Angeles office of advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day. The slogan has been widely taken as a response to the IBM slogan "Think". It was used in a television advertisement, several print advertisements, and several TV promos for Apple products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kokanee beer</span> Type of Canadian beer

Kokanee is a beer brewed at the Columbia Brewery in Creston, British Columbia. Columbia Brewery began brewing Kokanee lager in 1959 and was purchased by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military recruitment</span> Recruitment for military positions

Military recruitment refers to the activity of attracting people to, and selecting them for, military training and employment.

"Prouder, Stronger, Better", commonly referred to by the name "Morning in America", is a 1984 political campaign television commercial, known for its opening line, "It's morning again in America." The ad was part of that year's presidential campaign of Republican Party candidate Ronald Reagan. It featured a montage of images of Americans going to work, and a calm, optimistic narration that suggested that the improvements to the U.S. economy since the 1980 election were due to Reagan's policies. It also asked voters why they would want to return to the pre-Reagan policies of Democrats.

Jake Holmes is an American singer-songwriter and jingle writer who began a recording career in the 1960s.

E. N. J. Carter was an American novelist and advertising copywriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Kitchener Wants You</span> 1914 British military recruitment poster

Lord Kitchener Wants You is a 1914 advertisement by Alfred Leete which was developed into a recruitment poster. It depicted Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, above the words "WANTS YOU". Kitchener, wearing the cap of a British field marshal, stares and points at the viewer calling them to enlist in the British Army against the Central Powers. The image is considered one of the most iconic and enduring images of World War I. A hugely influential image and slogan, it has inspired imitations in other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Propaganda techniques</span> Methods of mind manipulation, often based on logical fallacies

Propaganda techniques are methods used in propaganda to convince an audience to believe what the propagandist wants them to believe. Many propaganda techniques are based on socio-psychological research. Many of these same techniques can be classified as logical fallacies or abusive power and control tactics.

Project VOLAR, or Project Volunteer Army, was an American series of experiments designed to determine how to successfully transition the U.S. Army to total volunteerism. Its primary mission was to determine how to increase volunteer enlistment and retention. It did so by evaluating the values most important to service members. The project took place in response to the imminent abolishment of the draft, so as to maintain the Army's strength without conscription. The project was created and sponsored by the Special Assistant for the Modern Volunteer Army, a program of the United States Army. It was conducted throughout 1971.

Frank Lee Burns was a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who served in Vietnam and, in retirement, became an information specialist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Strong</span>

"Boston Strong" is a slogan that was created as part of the reaction to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. It is a variation on the term Livestrong, which was created in 2004. Since the phrase became popular it has been frequently placed on various kinds of signage and merchandise. The use of the term in Boston has led to similar phrases entering public discourse, such as America Strong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Make America Great Again</span> American political slogan

"Make America Great Again" is an American political slogan and movement most recently popularized by Donald Trump during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. "MAGA" is also used to refer to Trump's political base, or to an individual or group of individuals from within that base. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in the arts, entertainment and politics, being used by both those who support and those who oppose Trump's presidency. Originally used by Ronald Reagan as a campaign slogan in his 1980 presidential campaign, it has since been described as a loaded phrase. Multiple journalists, scholars, and commentators have called the slogan racist, regarding it as dog-whistle politics and coded language.

SGT STAR, also known as Sgt. Star or Sergeant Star, was a chatbot operated by the United States Army to answer questions about recruitment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slogans of the 1979 Iranian Revolution</span> About slogans of the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979

This article deals with people's slogans during the 1979 Iranian revolution

References

  1. "The Most Famous Poster". American Treasures of the Library of Congress.
  2. "Who Created Uncle Sam?". Life's Little Mysteries. Live Science. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  3. pp.141–142 Griffith, Robert K. & Wyndham, John U.S Army's Transition to the All Volunteer Force 1868–1974 1997 DIANE Publishing
  4. AdSlogans.com – Wise Words/13 Archived 19 December 2010 at WebCite
  5. "America’s Army", Beth Bailey, Pages 191, 192
  6. "Dazed and Confused: The Incredibly Strange Saga of Jake Holmes". www.furious.com. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  7. Pollard, Garland (15 August 2009). "Interview: Singer Songwriter Jake Holmes, America's Most Memorable Jingle Writer" . Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  8. http://earlcarterawards.com/armypressrelease.pdf Archived 19 December 2010 at WebCite
  9. http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Army brings back venerable 'Be All You Can Be' ad campaign". The Washington Times. Retrieved 17 January 2023.{{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  10. Tyson, Anne Scott (22 November 2006). "Army Debuts New Slogan in Recruiting Commercials". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  11. Luntz, Frank. Words That Work. p. 119. ISBN   9781401385750. Why did the U.S. Army jettison "be all that you can be," surely one of the most widely known taglines in the world, for the rather odd and uninspiring "An army of one"? Especially when an "army," by definition, is more than one person. While it is understandable for an organization like the military to want to individualize and personalize what it does, that's just not a believable or credible selling point.
  12. "The making of Army Strong". www.army.mil.
  13. Myers, Meghann (4 January 2019). "New in 2019: The Army is pulling out all the stops to attract Generation Z". Army Times. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  14. "Become a Warrior in the Army | goarmy.com". goarmy.com. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  15. "U.S. Army: What's Your Warrior?". goarmy.com.
  16. The Army wants you to be all you can be, again