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.