Marines to air Super Bowl ad for the first time in 30 years

The Marine Corps will air the service’s first Super Bowl ad in 30 years, which will be aimed at young adults who have overcome challenges in their personal lives, Fox News reported Saturday.

A 30-second TV spot, based on a longer version that can be viewed on the branch’s website, shows Marines boarding aircraft, deploying drones and using amphibious vehicles in an attempt to reach young recruits who watch this year’s Super Bowl on devices other than their TV.

{mosads}

“I’m trying to enlist 18- to 24-year-olds,” Maj. Gen. Paul Kennedy, head of recruitment for the Marine Corps, told Fox News. “And they tend to be cord-cutters. They take in entertainment differently and they tend to do it on a device rather than a television.” 

“This ad talks to the fighting spirit of young people that have come up through high school,” he added. “We want young, tough, smart warriors that want to continue to seek challenges, and we’re seeking them from men and women from all walks of life.”

Kennedy added that he expects this year’s ad to reach 20 million viewers.

The Marine Corps’s top general made headlines in December when he urged troops stationed in Norway to be prepared, warning that he believed war was on the horizon.

“I hope I’m wrong, but there’s a war coming,” Gen. Robert Neller told Marines last year. “You’re in a fight here, an informational fight, a political fight, by your presence.”

This year’s Super Bowl will take place on Sunday between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots.