It's a rare day indeed when the U.K.'s Ad Standards Authority isn't receiving complaints from someone. This time, the griping concerns Her Majesty's Army, whose "Start Thinking Soldier" campaign (which includes TV ads like the one above, as well as this Web site and more) allegedly make war appear like a video game. The army insists its online skill tests aren't a trivialization of war, but rather a natural progression of the simulations it already uses in training. The ASA agrees, but some consumers are still upset. "If we didn't have adverts on TV that make being in the army seem like an Xbox game, would people still be shocked that soldiers actually die in a war?" says one. Conversely, comparing war to bad video games could reverse the momentum. A few ads drawing parallels between military combat and, say, Drake of the 99 Dragons should do the trick.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

See also:
BBDO reaches out to Iraq, Afghanistan vets
The U.S. Army turns to paintball players