Navy Targets 'Brightest' African Americans

The U.S. Navy today breaks its first-ever TV commercial targeting African Americans, who already make up a higher percentage of the organization’s ranks than they do the overall U.S. population.

The 30-second spot from GlobalHue in Southfield, Mich., is meant not so much to increase the substantial number of African Americans in the Navy but to reach the “brightest and the best,” said Lt. Bill Davis, a deputy public affairs officer with the Navy.

The work shows African American and Hispanic men and women in street clothes, reflecting on how the military has helped them succeed in civilian life; images of their Navy tasks are intercut.

The last scene shows a black man standing on top of an urban high-rise.