For the Pentagon, it is another shocking case of buyer’s remorse.
The U.S. Army has reached an agreement with the United Football League (UFL) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as it battles an epic recruiting crisis.
But the high-profile deal failed miserably, according to internal documents and emails seen by Military.com.
The wrestler and actor’s promotional posts on social media failed to attract any recruits and may have resulted in fewer rookies signing up.
The Pentagon reportedly struck a deal for Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to promote the US military on his social media, but the star did not follow through.
The force is reportedly seeking to recover $6 million of the ill-fated $11 million deal.
“We are in the process of working with the UFL to determine the final cost,” Army spokeswoman Laura DeFrancisco said. exit.
The UFL did not respond to The Mail’s requests for comment.
The Army signed the deal earlier this year with the UFL, a new minor league alternative to the NFL that has so far struggled to gain traction.
He focused on Army’s branding at UFL games, including its logo appearing on players’ uniforms.
But it also included Johnson, the league’s superstar co-owner, who was expected to elevate a force that is about 20,000 players short of recruiting goals.
Johnson was supposed to serve as a sort of brand ambassador and make five posts for his 396 million Instagram followers, the files show.
Each post was estimated to be worth approximately $1 million in exposure.
However, the former WWE wrestler only made two posts, it is alleged.
One showed him with some generals, including Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, who was involved in the promotion.
Another was a video clip of his visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.
Colonel Dave Butler, a spokesman for George, in a statement called it “unfortunate” that Johnson “stepped away at a time when we expected him to be present with us to create content for his social media channels.”
“But we are working with the UFL to rebalance the contract. The Rock remains a good partner for the Army,” he added.
UFL owner Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson shakes hands with servicemen and women before a UFL game
Johnson reportedly made only two of the five social media posts discussed in the settlement.
The UFL’s poor ratings and Johnson’s lack of publications led to recriminations within the Army, the files show.
By one count, the force ended up with 38 fewer recruits than it would have gotten if it had focused money and promotions elsewhere.
Emails show some military members warned from the start that the venture was doomed.
The UFL’s audience was too small to justify the multimillion-dollar price tag, they said.
One internal critic compared it to NASCAR’s $88 million sponsorship deal for the National Guard, which also failed to recruit any recruits.
Another Army promotional deal with the NCAA, for example, costs about twice as much as the UFL deal but draws ten times as many eyes to the service.
Other messages show problems in dealing with “inexperienced” UFL staff and how communications with them often failed.
The files paint a portrait of a service that is struggling to find new ways to reach recruits amid tectonic shifts in the media landscape.
The military typically promotes itself through cable television ads and deals with traditional sports television broadcasts.
But the Gen Z youth who need military uniforms are now connected to social media and their cell phones.
Johnson’s addition may have been an effort to get parents of potential recruits interested in military careers for their Gen Z children.
Army chiefs have spoken of the challenges of attracting new recruits, leading to a shortfall of as many as 15,000 soldiers last year. Pictured: Army recruiters at a job fair in Michigan
According to a survey of more than 7,400 Blue Star Families staff members, only one-third of military families would recommend a career in uniform today.
A member of the 82nd Airborne Division feeds her five-month-old son at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where poverty, hardship and food insecurity are rife.
Megan Sweeney, a former federal government communications adviser, said the doomed deal showed how the military lacked expertise when it came to social media ties to high-profile celebrities.
“While the Army may have thought it was acquiring The Rock, it was actually primarily getting a partnership with a minor football league,” Sweeney told Fortune.
‘The Rock is an investor in the UFL, but it’s not like he’s on the sidelines at every game. As a result, the Army appears to have paid Hollywood-level sponsorship money to get exposure in the minor leagues.’
The U.S. military faces a recruiting crisis because Generation Z is less inclined than previous generations to sulk in a uniform and risk their lives in combat.
Worse still, many of them are simply not fit enough to enlist.
Meanwhile, those currently knitting raises are warning potential recruits not to sign up.
Only a third of military families would recommend a career in uniform, says the latest survey highlighting problems at the Pentagon.
In 2016, more than half of them praised the military career.
They said life was getting worse because military spouses could not find jobs, health care was poor and housing was substandard.
This is according to a survey of more than 7,400 people from Blue Star Families, a non-profit organization.
This undermines US efforts to maintain a military advantage over its strategic competitor China.