Whose side are we on?

The music fades up. Her words–“We wait. We hope. We pray. Until you’re home again.”–appear on the screen. And then we hear the iconic voice of Oprah Winfrey:

“There will be a seat left open. A light left on. A favorite dinner waiting.”

So opens one of most popular–if we are to believe social media chatter and expert analysis–ads broadcast during the Super Bowl, Jeep’s “Whole Again”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FadwTBcvISo

It is at just past 1 minute of this 2-minute ad that we see any image of a Jeep. Just a few more brief glimpses of the vehicle, then the music soars as images of soliders coming home, reuniting with their families and their neighborhoods. And Oprah concludes: “Because when you’re home, we’re more than a family–we’re a nation, that is whole … again.”

The imagery is beautiful, and emotional. I’m sure many viewers choked up a little (this author did, at the image of the wife weeping at the table with her child). Many probably felt renewed gratitude for the sacrifices of our nation’s military.

All that said … is the type of ad right, or necessary? Does it serve to remind us of those who serve, or needlessly exploit them?

To be fair, Jeep is hardly alone in this type of advertising., with sweeping music, dramatic voiceovers and soldier imagery. Many of us have probably seen this military-themed ad for American Airlines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6iAMiJUu5g

Or this one from Anheuser-Busch:

Or maybe this one, for dog food:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVeBHwRbXB0

In the wake of this Budweiser ad’s

release a couple years ago, brand strategy experts weighed in on the ethics of using the military in advertising, with some claiming that it’s “in our country’s DNA” to support the troops and others comparing it to “using puppies and children.” (See the full article here.)

While not part of a military immediate family myself, and fully aware that other groups are exploited for commercial benefit (breast cancer survivors, of which my mother is one, come to mind), I have long felt an unease with these ads. Consider this:

• U.S. military veteran suicides rise, one dies every 65 minutes (Reuters, 2013)– reported just this month, this figure certainly belies the imagery of equanimity and serenity that advertisers depict in the faces of returning soldiers.

• “Real and disturbing disconnect among the majority of Americans in understanding how deployment contributes to economic, social, and familial stress”–fascinating results from a poll commissioned by the Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans show a considerable lack of awareness of how veterans returning home are prone to homelessness, unemployment, and lack of access to healthcare. Makes the image of the applauding crowd in Anheuser-Busch’s airport ad seem somewhat disingenuous, if not complete fiction.

We’re in an age where, as we learned from the Song Airlines experience, it’s not enough for a company to say its beer tastes good or its vehicles hold up or dogs love its food. Every brand wants an emotional experience with its consumers. But perhaps we ought to ask, at what point does that emotional experience come at someone else’s expense? Or, put another way–regardless of where we each stand on the wars–whose side are we on?

References

Reuters (February 1, 2013). U.S. military veteran suicides rise, one dies every 65 minutes. Retrieved February 17, 2013, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/02/us-usa-veterans-suicide-idUSBRE9101E320130202.

The Coalition for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans (2010). Public Awareness Poll: Needs and Support for our OIF/OEF Military and Veteran Community. Retrieved February 17, 2013, from http://www.cohenresearchgroup.com/media/ciav_201006.pdf.

Wilner, M. (2012). Running patriotic ads up the flagpole. Columbia News Service. Retrieved February 17, 2013, from http://columbianewsservice.com/2012/02/running-patriotic-ads-up-the-flagpole/.

About the Author

Lynn Tefft Hoff is the Assistant Director of Communications for the Radiological Society of North America, a society of 53,000 radiologists based in Oak Brook, Illinois. Lynn is in the Fall 2012 cohort of the Masters of Communication Management program at the University of Southern California. She lives in Aurora, Illinois, with her husband, 10-year-old stepson and 3-year-old son, who doesn’t believe that “writer and editor” is an actual profession and is waiting for her to decide to be a doctor or fireman “when she grows up.” Lynn chronicles life as a mom, middle manager and master’s student at mommyhitsthebooks.com.