Army bosses spent £1.2million on Facebook ads to recruit social media-loving millennials.
Chiefs targeted the so-called Snowflake Generation with slogans aimed at “selfie addicts”, “binge gamers”, “phone zombies” and “me, me, me millennials”.
The campaign came as Army numbers fell from 82,000 to fewer than 74,000. And it worked, says the MoD, as 90,000 applied to join up.
That yielded a 46 per cent increase in Army recruits while recruitment for the Army reserve was up 30 per cent.
The cost of the campaign was uncovered by the Sunday Mirror.
Retired colonel Richard Kemp, who commanded British troops in Afghanistan, said: “It seems there has been an improvement in recruitment.
"The Army is extremely small and it needs every billet manned. For every existing vacancy the Armed Forces is weakened.
"It’s important to target anyone interested in joining and these social media campaigns do help that.”
The 2019 drive was such a success that MoD chiefs have continued the theme this year – using emojis and gym-honed bodies.
One image is a collage of muscular body parts, captioned: “Confidence can be built for a summertime or it can last a lifetime.”
Another, with emojis, says: “Confidence can last as long as a like or it can last a lifetime.”
Col Nick Mackenzie, head of Army recruiting, said: “I am delighted that so many people have decided to join the Army this year, a result of our successful campaign and the hard work and dedication of all those involved in the recruiting process.”
