Much ado over SAF's 'trophy boyfriend' ad
By Kenny Chee
A NEW Singapore Armed Forces recruitment TV commercial has baffled some Singaporeans and tickled others - for better or worse.
It depicts a woman gushing over her new boyfriend, who is an army scholar, to two companions. In the 45-second clip, she praises him for being "smart", "outgoing" and "on a scholarship". She says he "works for this huge organisation", "gets to travel" and "always has time for me".
Click here to find out more!Click here to find out more!
Posted on YouTube a week ago, it got almost 30,000 hits as of yesterday evening. It had over 300 "dislike" votes and 17 "like" votes.
A netizen griped about the ad on citizen- journalism website Stomp. She asked: "Is it to 'market' army regulars as a 'good catch' for Singaporean girls, as if he's a trophy boyfriend?"
Launched last Monday, the ad is part of a multimedia advertising juggernaut called Our Home, Our Singapore, Our Army.
Of the other two TV ads, one focuses on two parents who regale friends with comments about their serviceman son, while the last features a girl who "wants to be a rock star" and says her serviceman brother will protect her and the country. In all three ads, a uniformed serviceman appears at the end.
Reactions to the ads have been mixed. While some find the soft approach a good break from previous grittier ads featuring armed soldiers and military vehicles, others say the ads are not realistic.
Two ad experts also say that there is a disconnect between reality and what the ads portray.
Mr Adam Chan, managing director of ad agency AvenueOne, called the completely soft-sell angle "refreshing" but thinks it "isn't going to work because this is the army".
He said: "The reality is that the army is tough. The new ads seem contrived because they try to create a corporate image that the army is modern, without blood and guts."
Ms Pat Law, managing director of social- influence marketing agency Goodstuph, feels the message is unclear. "Are the ads promoting the desire to serve for a higher purpose? Or are they promoting the superficial glamour of a career that will leave girls gushing?" she asked.
She singled out the boyfriend ad for its lack of understanding of its target audience.
She said: "It is unrealistic and a little demeaning to the potential soldier who wants to serve the country... I cannot imagine a guy signing up with the army so as to obtain his girlfriend's and her friends' approval."
However, some viewers like the ads.
Mr Benedict Boey, 28, a postgraduate student at the National University of Singapore, noted that the army "is moving away from a gung-ho image to one that connects more with citizens".
Netizen kohjaz commented on YouTube that the brother ad, for a change, is one "that we can all (relate) to, (because we have) friends or relatives in the armed forces".
One 20-year-old operationally ready national serviceman praised the ads for connecting with younger Singaporeans.
"Conventional ads do work but to really entice young people today, new approaches are necessary," he said.
Marketing executive Wong Biying, 23, said she likes the commercials' theme of "being proud of our boys".
"But the ads were over-the-top, especially the boyfriend ad," she qualified.
Love it or hate it, the latest ad campaign marks a significant change in how the army is portraying itself.
Colonel Desmond Tan, the Ministry of Defence's director of public affairs, said the the army's latest recruitment campaign "aims to show how the people who make up our army enjoy the support of their loved ones when they join the army".
"Compared to the military hardware used in previous campaigns, this campaign provides another angle to appreciate our army's mission - that Singapore is our home and the army is called to defend it," he added.
[email protected]
By Kenny Chee
A NEW Singapore Armed Forces recruitment TV commercial has baffled some Singaporeans and tickled others - for better or worse.
It depicts a woman gushing over her new boyfriend, who is an army scholar, to two companions. In the 45-second clip, she praises him for being "smart", "outgoing" and "on a scholarship". She says he "works for this huge organisation", "gets to travel" and "always has time for me".
Click here to find out more!Click here to find out more!
Posted on YouTube a week ago, it got almost 30,000 hits as of yesterday evening. It had over 300 "dislike" votes and 17 "like" votes.
A netizen griped about the ad on citizen- journalism website Stomp. She asked: "Is it to 'market' army regulars as a 'good catch' for Singaporean girls, as if he's a trophy boyfriend?"
Launched last Monday, the ad is part of a multimedia advertising juggernaut called Our Home, Our Singapore, Our Army.
Of the other two TV ads, one focuses on two parents who regale friends with comments about their serviceman son, while the last features a girl who "wants to be a rock star" and says her serviceman brother will protect her and the country. In all three ads, a uniformed serviceman appears at the end.
Reactions to the ads have been mixed. While some find the soft approach a good break from previous grittier ads featuring armed soldiers and military vehicles, others say the ads are not realistic.
Two ad experts also say that there is a disconnect between reality and what the ads portray.
Mr Adam Chan, managing director of ad agency AvenueOne, called the completely soft-sell angle "refreshing" but thinks it "isn't going to work because this is the army".
He said: "The reality is that the army is tough. The new ads seem contrived because they try to create a corporate image that the army is modern, without blood and guts."
Ms Pat Law, managing director of social- influence marketing agency Goodstuph, feels the message is unclear. "Are the ads promoting the desire to serve for a higher purpose? Or are they promoting the superficial glamour of a career that will leave girls gushing?" she asked.
She singled out the boyfriend ad for its lack of understanding of its target audience.
She said: "It is unrealistic and a little demeaning to the potential soldier who wants to serve the country... I cannot imagine a guy signing up with the army so as to obtain his girlfriend's and her friends' approval."
However, some viewers like the ads.
Mr Benedict Boey, 28, a postgraduate student at the National University of Singapore, noted that the army "is moving away from a gung-ho image to one that connects more with citizens".
Netizen kohjaz commented on YouTube that the brother ad, for a change, is one "that we can all (relate) to, (because we have) friends or relatives in the armed forces".
One 20-year-old operationally ready national serviceman praised the ads for connecting with younger Singaporeans.
"Conventional ads do work but to really entice young people today, new approaches are necessary," he said.
Marketing executive Wong Biying, 23, said she likes the commercials' theme of "being proud of our boys".
"But the ads were over-the-top, especially the boyfriend ad," she qualified.
Love it or hate it, the latest ad campaign marks a significant change in how the army is portraying itself.
Colonel Desmond Tan, the Ministry of Defence's director of public affairs, said the the army's latest recruitment campaign "aims to show how the people who make up our army enjoy the support of their loved ones when they join the army".
"Compared to the military hardware used in previous campaigns, this campaign provides another angle to appreciate our army's mission - that Singapore is our home and the army is called to defend it," he added.
[email protected]
