Independence Day: Resurgence wants you to join the Army

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The new Independence Day movie & the US Military have started a joint advertising campaign to recruit science fiction fans into the US Army.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

Two movie new trailers for Independence Day: Resurgence are actually covert advertisements of the US Army. pic.twitter.com/xB0qtDQNgA
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

#IDR trailers ask fans to join the fictional “Earth Space Defense.” Clicking the video takes you to the EDS website. pic.twitter.com/KzYUUQrs41
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

This Independence Day movie site is hosted on GOARMY•COM because it's really a recruiting tool for the US Military. pic.twitter.com/bVpUnLM3sr
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016


For those who don’t know GOARMY•COM is the official website for US Army recruitment. pic.twitter.com/mHq9hU9tzc
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

Once fans enlist in the US Army sponsored “EDS" they can do missions to unlock extra Independence Day movie content. pic.twitter.com/8eqzrslzJo
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

In order to unlock Independence Day movie extras fans must allow US Army recruiters access to their Facebook pages. pic.twitter.com/7YAwM1fX6V
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

The whole "Join the Earth Space Defense” advertising campaign for Independence Day: Resurgence is designed as a US Army recruiting tool.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

“It allows us to tell the Army recruitment story in a very new and very relevant way” -US Army contracted firm responsible for #IDR/Army ads
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

The advertising industry and US Military both understand something that many fans deny. Fiction is a very effective way to influence people.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

Increasingly the US Military is turning to science fiction narrative as a recruiting tool. Fighting space aliens avoids messy moral issues.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

The military likes alien invasion as a recruiting story because they can appeal to patriotism without association with US Army atrocities.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

The long history of imperialism makes US Military recruitment difficult. Science fiction provides a simple good vs evil recruitment story.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

The US Military collaborates with Hollywood on science fiction movies like Iron Man, Battleship & Transformers to boost their public image.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

Even with the long sorted history of US Military involvement with Hollywood, this #IDR/Army recruitment collaboration is the most insidious.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

NPR did a story on US Army joint advertising with Hollywood and in typical @NPR bemused detachment style there isn’t one word of criticism.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

The US Military is specifically targeting young geeks and gamers for recruitment through marketing tie-ins with superhero and sci-fi movies.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

It’s not just one website, US Army recruitment "ESD” links are embedded across Independence Day movie promotions. pic.twitter.com/M4ZbqsXjxk
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

To recap: The US Army is using an alien invasion movie to access the Facebook data of patriotic young sci-fi fans for potential recruitment.
- Jonathan McIntosh (@radicalbytes) May 13, 2016

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