Band of Brothers (And Sisters): Gender Framing in U.S. Army Commercial Advertising

Abstract

The U.S. Army spends over 7 billion dollars in recruitment advertising, with its largest percentages going toward television marketing. However, little research has been dedicated to military advertising besides strategic recommendations. This project offers a critical investigation on the depiction of gender in military advertising. A content analysis on a sample of U.S. Army commercials produced between 2008 and 2018 offers an exploratory discussion on how gender is visually and verbally framed within the Army’s advertising.