Comments on: Enlisting Mouskateers

By: Campervan

Campervan — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:32:17 +0000

Military is a proper job – but then, I would still say kids should be communicated about peace making, not the wars.

By: brian

brian — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:59:50 +0000

I agree with you 100%, neil. I found this a dastardly abuse of influence and a real low blow. I’m revolted that my taxes paid for these ads and disappointed that my votes were insufficient to keep the Conservatives out of office, but that’s what happens to Canadians sometimes. I’m eagerly looking forward to the next regime change, though our Liberals are looking rather spineless nowadays (not that I vote for them, but they’re forever Canada’s old standby).

Thanks for writing, neil.

By: neil

neil — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:20:22 +0000

These ads are marketing WAR. That’s what I find most offensive. We should be encouraging children to visualize and problem-solve for peaceful solutions to problems. It is inapproprate in the extreme to target young children who are not of age to enlist, and do not by any means have the skill of visual literacy required to really decode these messages in a critical way. It’s just a plain insidious and very deliberate program to change our culture and make militarization acceptable to the next generation. If you don’t believe it’s deliberate, just google ‘General Hillier’, and go to his Oct. 2006 speech. You could also google the Bi-National Planning Group. Come one Canada wake up and get back in the drivers’ seat!!!!!

By: demodulated » Is it time to vote again yet?

demodulated » Is it time to vote again yet? — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 00:45:46 +0000

[...] Since taking power the Conservatives have inexplicably lowered the GST while ballooning military spending, eliminated government-sponsored child care and ended women’s support services in a double-whammy assault on women’s rights, stepped up efforts to deport even well accepted and loved illegal immigrants, and preceded children’s movies with army recruitment ads. [...]

By: Mycroft

Mycroft — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 18:47:56 +0000

But driving a car leads to more death then military service…

I just think there are greater injustices besides military advertising.
Let us worry less about the content of the ads, and more about the ads themselves.

By: brian

brian — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:59:04 +0000

Military service leads to death and to killing. That’s my real beef. I feel that there are more constructive (rather than literally destructive) ways of asserting and securing one’s future than through military service – especially when one lives in a country that is not in significant danger of being invaded by another military.

Advertising military service to children seems like an act of desperation to me. Paradoxically it is both despite and thanks to our military that Canada’s youth have the freedom to not even have to think about war and oppression. Let’s teach them to revel in this fortuitous state while they can.

By: Mycroft

Mycroft — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 20:17:30 +0000

So then would advertising voting be bad as well?
Is it just that it leads to death that’s your beef?
The chances of dying in the military, while they are slightly higher than most professions, are not that high in Canada. And what better an environment than in a theater with your parents to watch and learn about Canada’s military?

But I have only seen the second advert in theaters, which shows more domestic issues and saving people’s lives…. did you see the first one?

I used kraft dinner as a quick example, but there are so many worse examples. Advertising to children is a bad idea. Plain and simple. Be it for the military or cheese doodle yogurt blast of “flavour” crystals infused sugar drink.

But as far as age limits go, I will completely agree that we’ve got it backwards. You can strip but you can’t drink? Seriously? Who comes up with this?

Here’s a quick list:
Criminal Responsibility – 12
Age of Consent – 14
Military Availability – 16
Driving Age – 16 (Ontario)
Marriage Age – 18 generally, 16 with parental consent, 14 with judicial consent
Voting Age – Canada: 18
Stripping Age – 18
Drinking Age – 19 (Ontario)
Car Rental – Essentially 25 (because of painfully high insurance)

Crazy eh?

By: brian

brian — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:46:34 +0000

I do question the ethics blanketing all marketing to children, but I think there’s a distinction to be made between products and military service. Kraft Dinner isn’t exactly a cornucopia of Flintstones Vitamins, but one would be pretty hard pressed to murder someone with a cheesy spoonful. Pretty much any topic of concern regarding Kraft Dinner is on the box if not in the ad. Other ads (toys for example) show disclaimers and clarifications in (questionably) legible text during the commercial. I think it’s safe to say that there are more pressing gotchas on the army box label.

Enlisting in the army means to dedicate your life, hopefully temporarily, to the service of the country. Children may not drink alcohol or smoke in Canada, nor may they vote. Why, then, are they deemed old enough to risk their lives in the military?

By: Mycroft

Mycroft — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:02:48 +0000

I would just like to ask you, based on that code of ethics:

“Marketing to children must not exploit children’s credulity, lack of experience or sense of loyalty.”

Are there any advertisements that don’t exploit children? Is it possible to abide by that and still create an advert?

And what makes our military any worse than say… kraft dinner? Both can kill. At least military service has some benefits.

By: Bianca

Bianca — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 17:14:39 +0000

You, like me vote because you know that even if it doesn’t make a difference, your vote still counts in the eyes of the party you voted for, because every vote for your preferred party is one less vote the other side has.