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The Army reportedly paid Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and the United Football League $11 million for promotion. It had the opposite effect.
According to a report from Military.com, the Army may seek to get some of its money back after the failed effort to boost recruiting. The deal was agreed upon earlier this year, and included “prominent Army branding” during UFL games. The bigger draw of the deal, Military.com reported, was the presence of Johnson. Due to his enormous social media following — including nearly 400 million followers on Instagram — his potential outreach was valued by the Army.
As part of the deal, Johnson was to publish five different posts promoting the Army. He only posted two.
In an internal review of the deal and its impact, the Army projected that it lost 38 enlistments. Now, the Army wants to recoup $6 million from the spring football league.
“We are in the process of working with the UFL to determine the final cost,” Army spokesperson Laura DeFrancisco told Military.com.
As noted by the site, the failed deal comes as the Army is enduring a “historic recruiting crisis.” One of the larger factors in that crisis stems from the fact that traditional marketing tactics — like “cable TV-style” ads — don’t reach younger generations like they used to.
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