New Canadian Forces Recruitment ad

Normally I'd try to find you a picture for this, but the CF recruitment site doesn't have stills from its new ads yet.

My god. Have you seen this ad (click on the "watch our ad" box)? I stopped watching a beloved rerun of So You Think You Can Dance because of the music (or lack thereof). I kept watching because I couldn't believe they were recruiting using images of house to house combat in Afghanistan.

First, the music: is it just me, or is that percussion somewhat reminiscent of the sounds of sporadic gunfire? There is very little other music, almost ambient noises and that really makes the ad stand out from the crowd. The fluttering of the pants on the parachutist gets me. It's almost like kabuki music, Canadian style.

Second, the images: First person shooter style for some of it, very cinema verite, very oh my god shocking for some reason. The looks of the faces of the people they're helping; the inclusion of an IED or mine, and the explosion of a flash grenade. Wow.

I don't really know what to say. A few months ago, the ad for Gears of War came out with a very haunting song (Mad World) playing over a very violent scene, and that really profoundly disturbed me. I think I'll be pondering this ad for quite some time to come.

What do you think of it?
Update: here they are...

Canadian Forces "Join Us" on Video.ca

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[ READER COMMENTS ]

1. 1

   Jippers said:

   they're some of the best ads ive ever seen

   Posted at 06:23 PM, on January 22 2007

1. 2

   David said:

   Those ads make me think of early post-9/11 US Army recruiting videos, not something I'd expect to see today and not the kind of message that would have me joining up that's for sure.

   Posted at 08:15 PM, on January 26 2007

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