Continuing a long armed forces tradition of portraying working-class white men as blokey bantersauruses is This Is Belonging, a new two-part recruitment ad for the army. “Belonging” is here defined as “being able to have a bit of laddish chat in a war zone”, whether you’re in a piss-wet jungle or freezing your fragile parts off on the edge of an icy mountain. All it takes here to fortify this soldier’s sense of comradeship, it seems, is the rest of the lads chorusing “I’ve had the time of my life” through frostbitten lips.
Like other military recruitment campaigns – see the notorious 2015 navy ad that dubbed over a sailor’s Cumbrian accent, clearly deemed as unintelligible as the aliens from Arrival, with a more palatable geordie tones – this one makes the ad-makers’ indifference towards their target audience clear as crystal. Especially as they conveniently forget the actualities of war: you know, killing people, risking your life, all that stuff. Instead, someone to ruffle your hair while you stare into the ether wishing you were at home with a Pot Noodle is what you can expect. It’s military life reimagined as a Tough Mudder-style bromance.
