Calling all snowflakes — your country needs you.
Or at least, the British Army does.
"Me me me millennials", "phone zombies" and "selfie addicts" are the target of a new recruitment campaign being rolled out by the UK Ministry of Defence in a bid to bolster recruitment numbers.
The posters laud millennial "binge gamers" and "class clowns" for their "spirit" and "drive".
"Your Army needs YOU," the posters read — a throwback to the Lord Kitchener recruitment posters that came to be one of the defining images of World War I.
Colonel Ben Wilde, assistant head of Army recruitment, told the defence-run Soldier Magazine the skills of the current generation "would fit the need for operating in a changing battlespace".
"They have a level of technical know-how that my generation generally does not possess," he said.
Video advertisements published online play to the same vein.
In one ad, a father laments that his son has stayed up all night playing video games.
"Stamina, don't underestimate it," a voiceover remarks, praising the gamer's "dedication".
In another, a supermarket trolley worker who is mocked by her colleagues for being a "slow millennial", is commended by the Army for her perfectionism.
However, the campaign has not been without scrutiny.
On social media, some questioned whether taking aim at millennials was likely to entice them to join their ranks.
"Why would a young person in the UK join the army when they call them addicted gamers, phone addicts and snowflakes?," Twitter user Angela Korras wrote.
"Are you kidding me? #fail"
Colonel Wilde shrugged off criticisms, claiming the initiative had increased the numbers and diversity of people seeking to join the ranks.
"The negative remarks we have had about the campaign are unjustified," he told Soldier Magazine.
"The reality that it is hard to recruit also applies to the wider public sector — with more people employed, traditional recruitment streams are not always available. So we are speaking to all elements of society."
Last month it was revealed the British Army had been missing its recruitment targets because of problems with a 495-million-pound ($890 million) online recruitment system.
