See U.S. Army's first campaign after pulling Jonathan Majors ads

The U.S. Army’s newest campaign, “It’s Your Time,” which focuses on recruiting the next generation of military professionals, is out a month after its ads with Jonathan Majors were pulled following the actor’s arrest for allegedly assaulting a woman during a domestic dispute.

The campaign, with its tagline, “It’s your time to make a greater impact,” showcases all the different roles young people can take on as part of the U.S. Army Reserve. It is the latest effort in the Army’s efforts to reach and recruit Gen Z and is timed to the U.S. Army Reserve’s 115th anniversary on April 23.

The first 30-second ad in the campaign, “Helper,” spotlights all the roles within the Army that exist to support soldiers and civilians. The Army Reserve is different from Active Duty and the Army National Guard in that it allows its soldiers to pursue other careers and education while serving only part time.

The first ad “exemplifies opportunities for excelling in the medical and service fields, represented by an Army Reserve combat medic and civilian EMT,” said Chief of Army Enterprise Marketing Major General Alex Fink.

There will be three other spots in the campaign: “Solver,” “Fixer" and “Connector.” The ads were created to showcase the different transferrable skills people in other careers can bring to the Army Reserve. Fink said all ads will remain in market for two years.

The Army partnered with DDB and a group of Omnicom's agencies, dubbed “Team DDB,” on the campaign including OMD, Critical Mass, Annalect, The Marketing Arm, FleishmanHillard, Fluent 360, Rapp and Fors Marsh Group.

“It's Your Time" will run nationally via a mix of connected TV and social channels on platforms including Hulu, HBO Max (which will be rebranded to Max next month), Reddit, YouTube, Spotify, Pandora, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Google, as well as the GoArmy social media channels and on GoArmy.com. The Army said it chose the mix of channels specifically to meet Gen Z viewers where they are.

Also read: Marketing experts react to HBO Max's rebrand

A new Army Reserve logo was released with the campaign that coincides with the U.S. Army’s new brand identity released last month, which brought back its “Be All You Can Be” motto in cinematic ads starring Majors that were created by ad agency DDB.

The “Creed III” star was rapidly rising up in Hollywood when he was arrested on March 25 in Manhattan on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment of one woman and more women have come out accusing Majors of abuse since.

Majors has now been reportedly dropped from several projects including Protagonist Pictures’ “The Man in My Basement,” an adaption of the Walter Mosley novel, and an ad campaign for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball team. He is still tied to other projects including his starring roles in Disney’s upcoming “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” slated to be released in 2025, and “Avengers: Secret Wars,” set to be released in 2026.

Fink said the new campaign “supports ‘Be All You Can Be,’ which is a continuation of the Army’s efforts to demonstrate the possibilities of Army service and the many paths to service that help Soldiers become the best versions of themselves.”

“The two ads featuring Jonathan Majors are only one piece of the campaign,” he said. “While these two ads have been paused from rotation after two weeks in market, the remainder of the 'Be All You Can Be' campaign continues as planned, inclusive of immersive activations and promotional assets distributed across television, print, digital billboards, streaming video, social and community platforms, and audio channels.”

Fink added that no decisions have been made on the future of ads featuring Majors.

Contributed: Adrianne Pasquarelli