Navy Seals ~ Footprints Commercial
The military in paradise is one of my favorite topics, particularly when it comes to recruitment. One of the more sophisticated examples of the approach is the “Footprints” commercial for the Navy Seals that was released in February of 2006:
As far as military recruiting goes, this commercial hits it. It’s aware of cultural connections to the beach, but doesn’t exploit elements of tropical paradise that we would normally expect. It knows that people like mystery.
Visually, it lets our brains fill in where they are, what they’re doing, and where they went. No canned palm trees on this beach. This could be a chilly place for all we know; in fact, the sun looks to be rising, so it’s probably an eastern coast.
Beyond the obvious, the commercial also knows that every Christian kid in America has read the “Footprints in the Sand” poem copyrighted by Mary Stevenson Zangare (1922–1999) about God’s presence in our lives. Surely, one of those sets of footprints in this commercial could be His?
The ad was done through the Navy Recruiting Command and the ad agency Campbell-Ewald home, apparently, of “industrial strength creativity” based Detroit. They say of their own ad on their website, “Quite possibly the stealthiest television commercial ever produced. Naturally, it’s for the Navy Seals.”
The Navy’s press release (Word document) on the ad reads in part (emphasis added):
This will help in recruiting qualified NSW/NSO applicants and is a key to Navy success in recruiting skills vital to defeating terrorism and winning the Long War.
The commercial was designed to achieve a “now you see them, now you don’t, or did I see anything” effect. The creative goal is to make the viewer think and see that it is not all about the action, but also stealth and mystery.
“If I was a parent looking at the other commercials about the SEALs, with all the hardware and shooting, I might be apt to look at it in a different way,” said Cornell Galloway, General Enlisted Program Advertising Manager, CNRC. “But with Footprints, the ocean and the waves, it sends a very strong but subtle message.”
The commercial will be airing on sports networks, late night television and in regular rotation along with commercials that are already running nationally. [emphasis added]
Mark Simon, Creative Catalyst at Campbell-Ewald, says in their portfolio video: “Wireless phone service, vacuums, banking, health care, submarines, we can come up with a strategy for anything.” They’ve done work for Kaiser Permanente, Chevrolet, the USPS, Alltel, OnStar, Michelin (including the eco-escape site www.michelinman.com/forward/), Bissell, and the American Heart Association. They seem to be an agency in touch with both their creative side and everyday Americana.
Overall, whether or not you agree with various military recruitment techniques, this commercial is smart.
SIDE NOTE: Be sure to check out the bio page for Mary Stevenson. It’s
interesting that they have chosen a “colorized” picture of her in a grass skirt and lei as one of three images of her life. As for military connections, she was also involved in “Vietmoms” sending goodies to troops in Southeast Asia.
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