A familiar face stares sternly from the cover of a book that Lakewood resident Doug Flagg is holding. For most people, the image of Uncle Sam pointing his finger at you is a classic Army recruiting poster. For Flagg, it's more personal.
Doug Flagg: This is Uncle James. He's my great, great uncle. It's a self-portrait of himself. He did the work. Put the costume on. Stood in front of a mirror and it became "I Want You."
James Montgomery Flagg's painting was introduced during World War I and has proved to be an enduring icon of military advertising ever since. Still, design consultant Michael Ozan says it really represents a different America.
Michael Ozan: I think that the landscape's changed greatly since "I Want You." Our opinions about going to war were very different.
Ozan is president of Twist Creative, a young Cleveland-based company that specializes in brand creation.
Michael Ozan: I think, then, we had an enemy that was well-defined, and there was no doubt that the course of generations of Americans would change by joining a fighting force. Having the U.S. Army say "I Want You" wasn't such a stretch. You didn't have to build in all kinds of incentives - only the incentive to "keep freedom ringing," so to speak.
For the thirty years between the start of World War II and the end of the Vietnam War, the United States had a military draft to keep the armed forces stocked with soldiers. But, for the past three decades, the Army has relied on an all-volunteer fighting force, and has had to sell the idea of military service.
James Banks: The Army used to say - not a bad slogan - "Be all that you can be."
Historian James Banks heads the Crile Archives of Military History at Cuyahoga Community College. He recalls that the tuneful recruitment slogan of the 1980s downplayed the dangers of the battlefield and promoted the possibilities of learning a new skill.
James Banks: If you think about the social and demographic profile of those who might find this attractive - rural Americans, urban Americans, unemployed Americans. Maybe you've got an unpleasant home life. When you're 18 or 19, it becomes, 'Hey, I'm going to get some money for college.'
"Be All You Can Be" had a successful run of 20 years, followed by a less effective five-year campaign called "Army of One." As the nation's economy gains strength, military brass say they are now competing with civilian employers. After the Army announced a recruiting crisis last year, it hired a new communications firm to modernize it's message.
The first fruits of what's reported to be a five-year, $1 billion campaign hit the airwaves last night. The new message, heard across 20 cable channels, was pretty basic.
Army commercial: There's "strong". And then there's Army Strong. It's more than physical strength, it is emotional strength, not just strength in numbers, but strength of brothers.
The words are accompanied by images of recruits running down a street in formation. A soldier boosts his buddy into a helicopter that's about to take-off. A Green Beret walks along a sidewalk and causes a young boy's head to turn. Historian James Banks says there's nothing inherently wrong in using such appeals.
James Banks: What really gets difficult and highly controversial is, like all advertising: Is everything that you're telling me guaranteed to be true? What if the product doesn't work? Is there a "lemon law" in the case of the military? You told me I would be serving in New Jersey. This sure doesn't look like New Jersey.
Pentagon spokesperson Paul Boyce says there is no deception in the new campaign.
Paul Boyce: Obviously, during a time of war, we are very candid with young people about both the benefits and the risk associated with service in the Armed Forces.
Boyce says the Army is also sending its message to the new electronic places where young people spend their time like, Google, Yahoo, and YouTube. But, he says, not everything is so high tech. James Montgomery Flagg's original recruiting poster can still be found.
Paul Boyce: We still have Uncle Sam in recruiting stations. In fact, here in the Pentagon, we have a version of that poster. It now says, "We are at war. What are you doing?"
The Army is now waiting for an answer. David C. Barnett, 90.3.