Instead of the traditional approach, which promises to give young people’s outer world an exciting future of action, education and rewards, Karmarama has reached deeper, to young people’s inner world, to their self-esteem. Its campaign lets young people know that the army sees potential in them, even when their self-esteem is being attacked by the “slings and arrows” of other people’s criticisms and labels.

Each spot tells the story of one young person whose perceived weaknesses are seen as strengths in The Army. A young supermarket worker who is being bullied by her manager for alleged slowness, is seen as resilient in The Army, where slow and steady is also an asset.

The ads – three so far – are the third set in Karmarama’s This is belonging campaign for The British Army and come from knowledge that 72% of 16- to 25-year-olds are looking for a job [source: LinkedIn]. The ads continue to use The Army’s long-standing slogan, Be The Best.

Supporting the films is a series of posters, illustrated in the style of the Lord Kitchener style WW1 recruitment ads, each one presents a common derogatory phrase such as Me me me millennials, Snowflakes and Class clown as a characteristic useful in The Army.

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