So, er, a Guardsman has his picture used in a recruitment poster. he had agreed to the picture being used. And now he doesn’t like it.
A Scots Guardsman is quitting the Army after his picture was used below the word ‘snowflakes’ in a controversial recruitment campaign, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Guardsman Stephen McWhirter, 28, who has protected the Queen at Buckingham Palace, had no idea his face would appear alongside the slogan ‘Snowflakes – the Army needs you and your compassion’ before the poster was unveiled last week.
Guardsman McWhirter has told friends he has been bombarded with mocking messages from colleagues and feels that, because he was not forewarned, the Army has left him open to ridicule. He says he will resign at the earliest opportunity.
Um… Don’t you think that’s a tad, well, what’s the word, here? Snowflaky?
Guardsman Stephen McWhirter may have agreed to being used on recruitment poster, but not he did not agree to being labelled as a “Snowflake”
I’d be angry if my face/photo similarly abused; if you’re honest you would too eg “Bikers are Idiots” ad.
Tad snowflakey? Nope, standing up and robustly saying NO, not whining and crying. Disagreement is not equal to snowflake.
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UK Army Mocked on USA TV
His reaction was over the top. It’s a recruitment poster that was obviously tongue in cheek. If you can’t take a joke, you shouldn’t have joined.
I suspect he, along with the 99.9% of the rest of the manpower – and I use that word deliberately – of the Army, objects to the tone of the new recruitment campaign.
I suspect he, along with the 99.9% of the rest of the manpower – and I use that word deliberately – of the Army, recognises that his life will be endangered if the campaign has the desired effect of effeminising the Army.
I would have objected in his position.
He may have a point. However, he gave consent for his image to be used. To then behave as he has is to reinforce the stereotype.
It’s an interesting point LR. I suspect that the problem arises as a result of incorrect assumptions. He assumed it would be part of a “Be The Best” sort of thing and TPTB didn’t tell him otherwise.
So it’s an “informed consent” problem. Made murkier because I’m also prepared to bet that TPTB knew he wouldn’t consent if he had been told how it would be used…
Oh quite probably.
No. Problem is it’s not “tongue in cheek”, it’s serious and a follow up to the “you can cry” “you can pray” “you can run away” ad campaign.
See Spectator, Spiked, Arrse
You’re taking this one far more seriously than I intended. However…
All of these are perfectly fine in context – unless we plan to go back to shooting PTSD sufferers for cowardice? It worked before (that was a joke, just in case you missed it).
The army (and other armed services) consist of people and people bring with them their many individual attributes. The organisation then takes those attributes and moulds them to its needs. Which is fine. I see in these adverts an organisation that is looking beyond the stereotypes and sees the qualities the individual can bring to the organisation. The campaign may have missed the mark, but the underlying idea was perfectly reasonable.
Further to the above comments, let me make this point: The campaign was clearly intended to have a degree of underlying humour. However, like the cool dad trying to get down wiv da kids, it has misfired. So be it. It’s no big deal.
I have some sympathy with McWhirter, but that sympathy is limited. He signed a release form. Sorry, but when you do that you relinquish all control over the image. Tough titty.
Since I’ve been writing this blog I’ve been approached on a number of occasions to take part in reality TV and documentaries and on each such occasion I have declined – for precisely the reason that McWhirter is now feeling sore. Without editorial control, you have no control. Hopefully, he has learned a valuable life lesson here. But my point stands – the snowflake meme was a piss take. Those who got upset by it merely played into the hands of those taking the piss.
I’m slightly shocked to find out that these recruitment posters are genuine, I thought that they had been created by someone as a joke.
“The campaign was clearly intended to have a degree of underlying humour”
I think that’s the point – I’m really not at all sure that there is underlying humour. This sort of nonsense is usually underpinned by a spectacular, some might say defining, humourlessness. 🙂
Maybe, but I’m inclined to believe that someone, somewhere, was trying to make a joke. They just fucked up.
That too 🙂
Remember that Red Button climate change campaign?
‘His reaction was over the top. It’s a recruitment poster that was obviously tongue in cheek.’
And therein lies the current day problem. It is no longer possible to determine what is satire and what is reality, what is meant as comedy and what is somebody being serious.
Much of what is going on now, in the 1970s we would assume was a Monty Python script. For example ‘jazz hands’ instead of clapping so as not to trigger anxiety; a Minister, not of silly walks, but lonely people. And zit, zut, zot or whatever as personal pronouns to avoid transgender offence… something.
Plus just about everything is ‘racist’.
Yes. Parody has become reality: London’s Walking Commissioner Will Norman
The ads are insulting to their named target market and alienate those not.