The Rock's Tag Team With The US Army Laid An $11 Million Dollar Smackdown On Recruiting Efforts...In A Bad Way
The Army is seemingly having buyer's remorse after an $11 million marketing deal with the United Football League and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
The high-dollar, high-profile deal likely didn't lead to a single new Army recruit and may possibly have had a negative impact on finding new enlistments, internal documents and emails reviewed by Military.com show. The service may even seek to get some of its money back.
The Army inked the deal earlier this year with the UFL, the upstart minor league alternative to the NFL that had an inaugural season from March through June with a disappointing debut. More importantly, the deal included Johnson, a global superstar and owner of the league, who was supposed to serve as a pseudo brand ambassador for the Army -- though the service said he did not fulfill his end of the bargain to publish a specific number of service-related posts on his social media accounts.
Part of the allure of the deal was Johnson's social media reach and an agreement that he would tout the Army. A titan on social media, Johnson has 396 million followers on Instagram. The Army valued each social media post at $1 million, service documents show, and it was expecting five of them. But Johnson did not fulfill his end of the deal -- making only two of the five social media posts, Army documents show.
I can smell what the Rock is cooking and it ain't a boost in recruiting for the Army.
This is super disappointing to see all around. Number one, it hurts to see my beloved Army struggling to hit recruitment numbers. Coming off the heels of a 20 year war, it is a difficult proposition to have people join your organization. However, the Army, and all branches of the military for that matter, is still a fantastic life choice for many folks out there. Those folks just need exposure to why it would benefit them to join.
Enter one of the greatest entertainers of this generation…unless he decides he is too busy trying to make the UFL happen. Make no mistake this is largely ole Dwayne's fault here. He was paid to perform a service. He didn't perform said service. He is in breach of the contract. That's contracts 101 and I never went to law school.
I applaud the Army for thinking outside the box and trying to leverage someone with 396 MILLION followers on Instagram to reach a younger audience. However, if Dwayne is going to half ass things, that's a slap in the face to the Army and to the country that made his dream life come true. We've all come to expect more from Dwayne and that goes beyond cheesy lines in action movies.
I'm going to give some free ideas to the Army to boost recruitment because giving back is important:
1. Take whatever money you get back from Dwayne's piggy bank and advertise with an internet company called Barstool Sports. No one has the ear of 18-35 year olds better than them and they even have an entire show dedicated to the military and Veteran community, Zero Blog Thirty. I guarantee in two weeks they would make back the recruitments you lost with Dwayne.
2. Stay away from pro sports and traditional marketing - 18 year olds don't watch TV and billboards don't make people want to join the military.
3. Use your current assets.
Cole Christiansen is now a two time Super Bowl champion. Brett Toth, Elijah Riley, Jon Rhattigan, Andre Carter II, Jimmy Ciarlo are all Soldiers who reported to NFL camp this season. Sam Sullivan just won a bronze medal in the freaking Olympics. I know they all would be willing to give their time to help your efforts.
4. Make a Top Gun-esque movie. I hate the navy but you can't argue facts. After Top Gun came out there was a huge boost in enlistments. I am happy to help with casting the movie. Just no Tom Cruise…we are trying to boost Army numbers not Scientology.
By the way, if Dwayne wants to bring his candy ass to the office I am happy to say all of this to his face.
P.S. Honestly, listen to today's episode of Chap's recounting his alive day and tell me we couldn't recruit for the military despite the tough topic.