In These Times: Kids LOL @ Navy Recruiters

Features > November 23, 2007
Kids LOL @ Navy Recruiters
By Aaron Sarver

Teenagers, be warned: Military recruiters have armed themselves with “Wat up, dude?” and “nmu” in their effort to lure you to Iraq. (For those who lack daily interaction with teens, “nmu” means “Not much. You?”)

As headlines reveal that the military is lowering standards to meet its recruiting goals, the Pentagon is trying new techniques to connect with Millennials—those born between 1980 and 2000, formerly known as Generation Y.

In September, the website Entropic Memes reported that attendees at last spring’s Annual Navy Workforce Research and Analysis Conference were given a slideshow presentation titled “The Road to a 2025 Total Force: Talkin ‘bout Their Generation.”

At the presentation, ad executive Arthur Mitchell, director of strategic planning for Campbell-Ewald, the agency behind the Navy’s Accelerate Your Life campaign, talked about the inability of Navy recruiters to connect with today’s young people.

Millennials, he explained, are “narcissistic praise junkies” and “a somewhat alien life force.” To help recruiters communicate with such bizarre life forms, Mitchell presented a pop culture quiz, asking recruiters to identify members of Green Day and the Black Eyed Peas (two popular bands). In addition to getting them up to speed on today’s music, he showed them the ins and outs of text messaging and emoticons. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3417/kids_lol_navy_recruiters

WTF are the kids being taught?

wow did not know that about myself, better go try to hide my green skin by looking at my full length mirror.

right? Isn't being a narcissistic self-centered asshole the earmark of classic conservatism? Be careful what you ask for. Greed is good, right?