Canadian military spent thousands on Xbox Live recruitment ads

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There are a lot of young men who play Call of Duty on their Xbox consoles, so it makes sense that the government would use Xbox Live as a billboard for recruitment ads for the Canadian Forces.

In case you weren’t aware, Xbox consoles connected to Microsoft’s online service show paid advertisements on the system’s main menu screen. The Ottawa Citizen reports  the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces started paying for these ads between 2006-07. So much of the ads likely appeared on the Xbox 360.

Documents say the purpose of the ads was indeed to reach an audience of males between the ages of 18-24. The audience is described as “18-24-year-olds, male & female, looking for adventure & excitement and/or interested in helping others.”

The government spend $200,000 on Xbox ads in the spring of 2008 as part of a national recruitment campaign. Remember, this was happening during Canada’s military involvement in Afghanistan.

Other parts of the government have also used Xbox Live for advertising, including Public Safety Canada and the RCMP. The article doesn’t state if the RCMP ads were for recruitment.

Photo: LeaderPost

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