Matt Voutsinos Leap Project #2
This is the link to my screencast on YouTube:
Below is the Reflection part of the project:
For this leap project two I decided to focus on the US Navy ad that I found on the mind over media website. I believe that I chose this video because I always have been fascinated with US military ads. I think a lot of the time when I see a military ad, I just focus on the good of the military and the sacrifice that many commit. But for the project, I wanted to challenge myself and think about the military in a different light. After watching the ad and learning more about patriotism in this week’s module, I knew that it would be interesting to try and think about the ad in a more critical way. Using a more critical approach to ads and propaganda is something that this course had been teaching us, and was a skill that I was able to use to find the harms of the ad.
When thinking about the ad I found two harms for the intended audience. The first is the ad creates the idea that if you join the military, you are automatically a patriot and that you embody the Navy’s values. Also, the ad can create criteria for the viewer to use to judge who is or isn’t a patriot which can separate people. This first set of harms that I focused on came pretty easily, considering that we did a lot of this type of analysis in our modules. We watched videos and read an article that challenged what a patriot is and how it can be complicated. I was able to see how they were trying to appeal to American values in the ad as well, which we also learned in the course. The first set of harms was fueled by what we have covered in class so far.
The second harm was how much the ad glorified the Navy and did not cover what a day-to-day life is like in the Navy. The course has helped me realize that the ad helped create a false narrative of what the Navy might be like and was pretty easy to spot once I thought about it!
Once I knew the two harms that I wanted to cover, I decided to make a google slides and try to incorporate various screenshots, clips, and quotes to help in the presentation. I focused on creating more of an outline first, then filling in the slides with what I wanted to cover. I tried to make sure I covered things like the target audience and positives for the ad as well because I felt it helped my presentation. I struggled with trying to make sure it looks like I don’t hate the military, but am simply just analyzing the harms of the ad. I believe by incorporating the positives of the ad and the target audience it helped with making the presentation more analytical and helped show that I have really thought about all aspects of the ad.
Overall, I felt the creative process for me was straightforward! Once I had an idea of what I wanted to do and knew the harms, I could shape and create my presentation and script. The only real challenge that I had was more with learning how to do screencasts, but once I did that it was somewhat simple. Another challenge was being brief and concise. I did go over the 4-minute mark but knew that it was ok due to the incorporation of clips and having talked about it with you!
I enjoyed taking on this challenge. It made me think more outside of the box and helped me realize the true intent of the ad. While on the surface it may seem like they just want to celebrate the Navy’s birthday, they are trying to create a positive image of the Navy for the audience through harmful tactics and are trying to recruit those eligible to join.
Below is the script I used to base my screen cast on and my Work Cited:
Introduction: What ad am I focusing on
For this screencast I will be focusing on an ad from the US Navy. I found this ad on the mind over media website, and it was made to celebrate the Navys 239th birthday. While this ad for the Navy might be seen as a positive thing, there are a few negatives that can come from the ad for the intended audience that I will discuss.
Who is the target for the ads
Before jumping into the positives and negatives, it's important to talk about who the target audience is. In just some of the images that I pulled from the video, we can tell that the ad is trying to focus on the average American, families of those who are or have been in the navy, young able adults who can join the navy, communities and businesses in those communities, and those who support the navy! While there can be more people who are targeted, these were just some of the demos and psychographics of the target audience for the ad that I could think of.
Some quick positives of the ads
While I am mainly going to focus on the negatives that can come from this ad, I still believe that there are some positives of the ad! We can see some positives in this short clip!
(Play the clip)
In the ad we a focus on family, as that is one of the main words used in the ad. We also see a lot of diversity in terms of people and in the jobs that the navy can have. They mention how families are impacted by war as well. And are showing people that have gotten injured while in war! While the positives might be more obvious, there can still be some negatives that are less unknown!
Main focus, the harms from the ad
The 2 main harms that can come from this ad are:
How the ad creates the image of an ideal patriot/american and
The ad glorifies war and is hiding some negatives associated with war.
Example 1
As we have learned in this course, the idea of a patriot can unite and divide those in the country. It is also a subjective idea, but in this short clip we see the Navy highlight its core values of its solders.
(Play Clip)
The quotes that I highlight on the scene from the ad help the navy create the image that those that serve in the navy employ a lot of traits that are associated with an American patriot. This can be a harmful thing because it can create an image that joining the Navy automatically makes you a patriot, which might not always be the case. Also, it creates criteria for what a patriot is for the audience, which can make those who don’t fit the criteria of a patriot be ostracized!
Example 2
Throughout the clips we have seen, we have seen many examples of how the ad is trying to showcase its weaponry. We see a ton of different ships, planes, helicopters, etc. throughout the ad, which I would argue combined with them appealing to ideal American traits glorifies the military. As we all know, in reality the military does not always do the right thing and is not always as perfect as the ad portrays it. It is creating a false narrative for those who might be eligible to join, which is pretty harmful. We do not see actual battle in the ad, see the difficulties of those who were actual hurt in battle, learn the day-to-day life, etc. People again might join without know what the real navy might be like!
Closing Thoughts
All in all, the Navy ad on the surface may seem like a positive thing, but when taking a deeper look can be harmful. It can help portray what a “true American” should look like, glorify war, not depict the actual life of the navy, all in an effort to get their target audience to view them in a positive light and to join the military. Next time you see a military ad, try to see past the positives, and watch with a more critical eye!
Work cited:
Beane, Marian. “An Adventure in American Culture & Values.” Office of Career Strategy , Yale University , https://ocs.yale.edu/blog/2021/01/08/an-adventure-in-american-culture-values/.
Galston, W. (2018). “Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism, and Democracy.” Washington DC: Brookings Institution.
“Navy Pride.” Mind Over Media, https://propaganda.mediaeducationlab.com/rate/navy-pride.
US Navy . “For 239 Years, the Navy Has Stood the Watch.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Oct. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDZ70uxPQaA.
