Military Recruitment and Hollywood: Independence Day Resurgence

So, once again this is David Levinson

reminding you and anybody else that’s

listening: Don’t mess with Earth!

The long-awaited sequel to the 1996

mega-blockbuster Independence Day hit

theaters this summer. Independence Day:

Resurgence is built on the same premise that

made the original famous: a potent combination

of alien killin’ and patriotic pandering.

Shouldn’t we be nervous?

Um, yeah.

Make them pay.

We are going to kick some serious alien—

Let’s show ‘em some fireworks.

On behalf of the planet Earth,
Happy Fourth of July.

Is that all you got?!

According to most reviews the movie itself

was unremarkable. What was remarkable

however, was the marketing for the film.

Some of you might remember something a

little strange about the trailers. And I mean

in addition to Jeff Goldblum doing

his whole Jeff Goldblum thing.

When the world was brought to its knees,

the Army was there to fight back promised

us this would never happen again. They have

been the driving force in uniting nations around

the world to form the most powerful weapon

against another attack: The Earth Space Defense.

Brave men and women of the ESD are making

sure that the war of ’96 will never happen

again. Join Earth Space Defense. Next time,

we will be prepared.

So we see the stars of the film speaking

directly to the camera, praising the US Army

and then asking fans to join something

called Earth Space Defense. Then at the end

of the trailer we see a URL: JoinESD.com.

Once fans arrive at that website, they’re

asked to enlist in the ESD to help fight off

future alien invasions and “defend Earth’s

independence at all cost.” By clicking enlist

visitors are notified that they are now a

soldier with the rank of “private.”

Now in order to determine your role in this

fantasy-military organization, fans are

instructed to complete a series of gamified

“missions.” Mini-games include simulations

where players learn how to pilot an unmanned

military drone or crack secret alien codes.

Completing each mission raises your rank and

unlocks exclusive Independence Day
movie content.

We’ve taken fighter jets that the US military

would have been accustomed to and

we’ve incorporated alien technology.

Now you’d be forgiven for thinking that this

is just a clever marketing stunt designed

to drum up more interest in the film. But

there’s something a little more insidious
going on here.

In order to compete to unlock those movie extras

fans are instructed to sign-in with Facebook.

But by doing so, it allows the US Army access

to your Facebook page and
your personal data along with it.

That’s because this whole “Earth Space

Defense” campaign is actually a surreptitious

recruiting tool for the US Army. It’s part of

a multi-million dollar joint advertising venture

between 20th Century Fox and

the United States military.

If you look carefully you’ll notice a small

unassuming US Army logo in the corner

of the page right across from the

Independence Day movie logo.

If you look even more closely, you’ll notice

that when linking over to JoinESD.com,

you’re quietly redirected to GoArmy.com

where the site is hosted. GoArmy.com,

for those who don’t know, is the official

website for US Army recruitment.

Were you surprised when your
daughter enlisted?

Not at all. She’s a born leader. I know I’ve

been taking orders from her since
she was five years old.

-So you don’t worry about her?

-Of course I worry about her. I fought in the

War of ’96. I know what those things are

capable of. But I know what my daughter is

capable of. And I know this planet is safer

because she’s defending it.

Now that trailer is almost indistinguishable

from real US Army television commercials,

at least up until the point where the kindly

father figure in the US Army cap starts

reminiscing about the War of 1996.

You remember, that’s the fictional one that

didn’t actually happen, where the US Military

defeated the extraterrestrial invasion

with the help of Will Smith.

Welcome to Earth.

Cross-branded promotions are now ubiquitous

in Hollywood. You’ve probably seen commercials

for Audi or Doritos or Coke that double as trailers

for superhero films. These movie tie-ins are

meant to trigger an emotional connection in

viewers and increase what’s referred to as

“positive-brand association” by connecting a

product with something that people already like.

The idea is that if you already think that say

The Hulk is cool, and you’re already really

excited to see The Hulk SMASH stuff in

the latest Marvel movie, then seeing

The Hulk enjoying a can of Coke will link

those pre-existing happy fan-ish feelings

in your mind to the product on the screen

even if that’s just on an unconscious level.

And the uncomfortable truth is that this kind

of marketing actually works really, really well.

Which is why corporations spend
billions every year doing it.

But here’s the thing, convincing people to

eat a bag of “Street Taco” flavored Doritos?

EW.

Convincing people to eat a bag of Doritos

and convincing people to sign away 8 years

of their lives to the US Army are not exactly

comparable. While arguably both might

be unhealthy, life in the military presents

significantly more risk to your mental,

emotional, and physical well-being than

having a little junk food now and then.

Now if cross-branded advertising sounds

manipulative, that’s because it is.

Which is why it’s not exactly surprising that

the US military is jumping on the bandwagon.

The US Army now spends in excess of

$200 million per year of taxpayer money
on advertising.

The US Army-contracted advertising firm

responsible for the Earth Space Defense

campaign is upfront about what they are doing,

The thing is that “recruitment story”

they’re selling is pure fantasy.

Now to be clear, many people do initially want

to join the military for altruistic reasons.

Unfortunately, US Army recruiters are

notorious for extremely deceptive tactics.

You look like you’re really into this.

You guys want a real challenge?

As a soldier in the United States Army,

you’ll find out what you’re really made of

and how far you can go. Explore over 150

careers, help pay for college, and learn

if you qualify for an enlistment bonus.

Call 1-888-395-ARMY now for a free copy of

the America’s Army Game and
this new interactive DVD.

Promises of large cash bonuses and money

for college are commonly used to entice poor

students into enlistment. But the fine print on

those contracts makes it so only about 15%

of recruits end up getting a college degree

out of the deal, and 65% receive no money
for college at all.

Recruiters also routinely hide the dangers

that go along with life in the military (even

outside of combat scenarios). Potential

soldiers are not told that the levels of sexual

assault and sexual harassment in the military

are alarmingly high. Recruiters don’t mention

that 1 in 4 women and about 1 in 14 men face

severe and persistent sexual harassment and

discrimination while serving.

They don’t mention the fact that suicide rates

among veterans are extremely high compared

to civilians. And they certainly don’t tell you

that a third of all homeless men in the United

States are military veterans. For the record,

that’s over 200,000 people.

Let’s be frank, if you enlist in the army there’s

a darn good chance you’re going to have a

bad time. And the military knows it. This reality

presents something of a PR nightmare, which

is why the Military has long turned to Hollywood

to help clean up their image and sell
the idea of enlistment.

Jonathan: Every branch of the US Military

has offices in Los Angeles which are tasked

with collaborating on Hollywood movies and

video game productions. Now for decades they

wouldn't touch anything involving U.F.O.s.

In fact the military famously refused to assist

on the original Independence Day because the

script referenced Area 51. But that’s no

longer the case. The military has recently

collaborated on science fiction movies like

Battleship, Man of Steel, Iron Man,
and Transformers.

We got a film crew aboard for the movie

Battleship. Don’t hesitate to show them

anything they ask for. Please make them feel

as welcomed as humanly possible.

We are now embedded with the United States

Navy. We’re using all the real crew from this

ship right now. And these guys are acting out

scenes and fighting their ship. And I think

they’re having a lot of fun.

Right behind us is the five inch gun…

Jonathan: Now in exchange for granting

filmmakers assistance and access to both

equipment and personnel, the military just

demands one little thing in return:

final script approval.

That's a very bad idea.

Wow. You have to thank her now.

She sent the Navy AND the Marines.

God bless you, Ellie.

Jonathan: This arrangement insures that

Hollywood depictions of the military are always

positive and uncritical even when the story

involves dinosaurs or killer robots or aliens

from outer space. This cozy relationship is

sometimes referred to as “Militainment”

because it produces media that glorifies

military institutions, combat, and warfare.

So there’s a long history of military involvement

in Hollywood. Still, I’d argue that this

Independence Day movie collaboration

is especially insidious.

Now beyond the covert collection of personal

data via Facebook, which is bad enough,

what’s so unsettling about it is that the US Army

is leaning heavily on the fantasy of alien

invasions as a way to convince young people

to become soldiers in real life.

When the soldiers in the movie rise up,

when they adapt to a new threat facing the world,

when they find a way to win no matter what,

remember where Hollywood gets that from.

The US Army has been defending American

independence for more than 241 years. Go

to goarmy.com/independence to learn how

you can join their ranks. Independence Day

Resurgence in theaters June 24.

Problem is, where Hollywood “gets that from”

is from fiction, or at least a heavily sanitized

version of the US military.

Now this cross-branded Earth Space Defense

campaign does fit very neatly with the US

Army’s PR tagline “Defending America’s

independence.” There’s just one small

problem with that: it’s not exactly true anymore.

The majority of modern US Military operations

look a whole lot more like intervention than

independence. And those operations are

certainly not designed to beat back any

invasion of the heartland, either from

foreign or extraterrestrial origin.

The long and short of it is, the US Government

has been in a near constant state of war for

over a century. In fact it’s overthrown or

invaded over 50 countries just since the end

of WWII. In an incredibly strange coincidence

most of those military interventions have

somehow ended up benefiting or protecting

the economic interests of American big

business. And under the umbrella of the

so-called “war on terror,” the US military is

currently raining destruction down on countries

all across the Middle East and North Africa.

That’s the grim, messy, and often bloody

reality of it. And that unpleasant reality is

one of the reasons why the US Army is

increasingly turning to science fiction

stories as a recruiting tool.

Heroes. Ordinary people who discover they

can do extraordinary things. With unique

talents and strengths, they stand together

as an elite class. It’s more than a uniform.

It’s a chance to be part of something bigger

than you ever imagined. Try it on at

facebook.com/goarmy and see exclusive

content for X-Men: First Class. Only in

theaters June 3. There’s strong,

and then there’s army strong.

Science fiction can provide a simple good

versus evil narrative, one that appeals to

patriotism and a desire to save the world

without any association with those real-life

military operations and atrocities.

Jonathan: In addition to leaning on science

fictional conflicts, the US Army is also leveraging

science fictional technology and science

fictional weaponry as an exciting pop-culture

lure to hook young people into enlistment.

-Aw, come one. Come on. Aw! Bank left!!

Fighting imagined enemies avoids the

uncomfortable associations with US foreign

policy. So killer robots or zombies or alien

invasions, these are all dehumanized conflicts

without any messy moral questions attached.

There are no real human beings with feelings

or families or grievances with US imperialism.

-Give me that thing.

Jonathan: Invading space aliens are easy to

kill. There’s no guilt or remorse or critical

thinking that’s required, unlike the real world,

where killing other people, no matter how vile

they may be, is never something you should

feel particularly good about.

Independence Day: Resurgence didn’t do so

well at the Box Office, so we probably won’t

be subjected to another movie in this series.

Unfortunately we’ll definitely be seeing the US

military using this type of advertising tactic again.

That’s because both the US military and the

advertising industry understand something that

many people still want to deny. And that is that

fiction can be a very powerful and very effective

way to influence people’s actions and attitudes.

The military has a long tradition of

intentionally blurring the lines between

fiction and reality, but this latest movie

tie-in represents a shift to a more

insidious form of product placement.

And we have a word for when the
government does this kind of thing,

and that word is propaganda.

I hope you found this video useful. If you’d

like to see more long-form video essays that

focus on the intersections of entertainment

and politics, head over to my Patreon page and

help fund the Pop Culture Detective Agency.