Jonathan Majors in a scrubbed “Overcoming Barriers” ad.
Army Marketing Office
Jonathan Majors’ ad campaign for the U.S. military, which was pulled from the organization’s official channels after he was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting a woman during a domestic dispute, was no ordinary ad line. The two locations, filmed in Southern California in January, were key elements of a massive rebranding effort for the Army in the years following the Afghanistan setback, fueling a recruiting message for General Z.
In the days leading up to Majors’ arrest (in a statement the Army said it was “deeply concerned by the allegations”) The Hollywood Reporter It had spoken to the campaign’s architects about its launch: Maj. Gen. Alex Fink, the Army’s chief of corporate marketing — the corporate equivalent of a chief marketing officer — as well as John Carstens, executive creative director of its ad agency, DTP Group. The two discussed why Majors, whose criminal defense attorney declared he was “absolutely innocent,” was their best predecessor. According to the Carstens, she met the requirements of their creative brief, which called for a person of Gen Z guideline age, “someone who could be a big brother or big sister to these decision-making teenagers,” and “had the right physique.” and moral existence” to pull the script.
Carstens himself recalls putting Majors’ name into the mix, since his casting at HBO was canceled. Lovecraft Country. “There’s something about him, a certain kind of gravitas. I found his on-screen presence very interesting in that show. The executive saw the actor as a rising star, not a celebrity pitchman, who didn’t intend to be the constant face of the Majors Army,” he explained recently. Became famous, within a few months [the commercials were shot]with ant man And hope coming out No one knows about [Sundance hit] Journalistic dreams. This military campaign is right in the middle of this rapid succession. (Carstens and Team DDB declined to comment further in light of Majors’ arrest.)
For Fing, a plus for the majors is that the actor has previously spoken openly about the formation of his relatives’ careers in the armed forces. (The actor didn’t serve in the military himself.) “Anytime you can find someone with military service connections, that’s a bonus.” During the press tour for his 2022 Korean War film DevotionMajors described His paternal grandfather was a veteran of the conflict, and how the project was unique.
“Growing up, many of my peers did not see military service as a viable option for their future,” Majors said in a statement related to his work on the military campaign. THR Before his arrest. “Thanks to the legacy of service in my family, I have seen firsthand what a career in the military can do for an individual, and I am passionate about helping today’s youth understand those possibilities as well. No matter who you are or where you come from, the Army empowers you to become the best version of you. I always lean towards performing to my full potential at all times.
Historically, high-profile actors have served in the US military, including Kirk Douglas, Harry Belafonte, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman. In the post-draft era, there were relatively few Hollywood actors with such experience. A notable exception was Adam Driver, who joined the Marine Corps following the September 11 attacks; He was medically released from service before being deployed to Iraq.
A pair of major commercials shot over six days and directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) with music by composer Rob Simonson (Stranger things), defined as a production vision of “epic realism” inspired by films such as Karsten and Fink. 1917, Dunkirk And Saves Private Ryan. They follow the military through its history, for example, with majors speaking to the viewer as vignettes unfold in the Panama Canal Zone. Some scenes were filmed at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. Malibu stood for the Normandy invasion.
Costs of high-gloss ads are not disclosed. Karsten noted that the budget was reduced by the company’s ability to rely on its own resources, including equipment and locations.
The Army needs to recruit more than 100,000 new recruits each year. “When young people close their eyes today, they see a distant star that is respected but not relevant, admired but not understood,” explained Fink. “What matters to young people is community, connection, passion and purpose. Doing so will not get us much credit. So as a brand it is not good.” He added, “It’s a marketing challenge.”
Carstens noted of the new campaign: “Patriotism is not important. Patriotism doesn’t really play with our Gen Z audience. Different people have different interpretations. So, saluting the flag did not go down in history as a reason to serve in the military. It should be something that people now think is interested in protecting and protecting Americans, as opposed to someone’s idea of what America is or what America should be. So we wanted to find examples to make an argument relevant to what the future holds for me and the hole in the universe I want to make.
Majors spots have been in high-visibility rotation, including the NCAA’s ongoing March Madness basketball tournament. They will also be telecast during the championship match. Now the army has stopped them.
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