This is the spot that says (in writing over an overhead shot of ocean water) 70% of the world is covered by water, 80% of all people live near the water, and that 90% of the world’s trade travels by water. Then it shows an aircraft carrier sail through the shot, from the same overhead, bird’s-eye view, and they say they’re 100% on watch. This is a pretty good ad, except for one thing. This ad is for Navy recruitment, not for Navy goodwill, or at least, I’m assuming it is. So here’s the problem: when the ship moves through the shot, we’re assailed with the noise and static of what sounds like a hundred police car radios blasting over the sound of the two helicopters. This makes it seem like you’ll be drowning in an ocean of cacophony if you join the Navy. I doubt that’s what they’re trying to say, but that’s partly what they’re communicating with this spot.
But I love the “global force for good” slogan, and the statistics are good too. It’s just that the radio noise is way too overbearing to send the right message. This is just another example of the sound designer way overdoing their job, just like they always do in the movies these days. Please remember, my sound designer friends: just because you can, it doesn’t mean that you should. If the radio is that loud from a cloud’s altitude, then how loud will it be on the ship? Just ask yourself that. And if you’re already seasick, will you also want to be harassed and harangued by radio noise and static? That issue right there might start to cut into enlistments. (But then again, if you can’t take that noise, you probably won’t be very effective in battle either. So maybe it’s by design to weed out the wimps!)
Here’s the cacophonous commercial:
