RECRUITING ADS HIT THE AIR EDWARDS STARRING IN NEW MILITARY CAMPAIGN.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Air Force recruiting ads - directed by an Academy Award winner, reviewed by focus groups and prominently featuring Edwards Air Force Base scenes - will hit the airwaves beginning Saturday. The Air Force is spending $28.2 million to air the ads on TV and during previews at movie theaters. Produced at a cost of $4.4 million, the ads are part of the Air Force's efforts to bolster its recruiting and retention. ``These commercials are the next offensive in our war on recruiting and retention,'' said Secretary of the Air Force Whit Peters. ``At the heart of the issue is retaining the quality people we have in America's Air Force today and getting our story out to people considering what to do with their lives - and to the people who influence them.'' The Air Force hired Siegelgale, a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ad firm, to handle the campaign. MJZ MJZ Mirnyj (Russia) , a Hollywood production company, filmed parts of the ads at Edwards, recording scenes such as maintenance crews at work in a hangar and the F-16, Stealth fighter and F-22 aircraft in the air. Other shots were done at Eglin and Hurlburt Air Force bases in Florida. The ads were directed by Bob Richardson Bob Richardson may refer to:
``We've seen an earlier version of them,'' said Edwards spokesman Maj. Tom Gilroy. ``Folks liked them. They looked good. They have Edwards all over them.'' The Air Force reviewed the ads before focus groups in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , Atlanta, Boston and Kansas City Kansas City, two adjacent cities of the same name, one (1990 pop. 149,767), seat of Wyandotte co., NE Kansas (inc. 1859), the other (1990 pop. 435,146), Clay, Jackson, and Platte counties, NW Mo. (inc. 1850). , Mo. Ray Johnson Ray Edward Johnson (1927-1995) The eccentric, enigmatic figure often credited as the founder of the New York Correspondance School and as a key influence in the formation of the Mail art movement. , a member of Edwards' public affairs staff, said the ads drew mixed results from the Los Angeles focus groups. Overall the ads did well, but there were a few negative comments, including comments that the ads focused too much on the midlevel mid·lev·el n. The middle stage or level, as in a series, course of action, or career. personnel and not enough on the younger airmen. Among the ads drawing positive comments was one titled ``How's My Driving?'' featuring two F-16s flying over the Mojave Desert. Toward the end, one of the aircraft makes a banking turn, showing a ``How's My Driving?'' sticker on its side. An ad featuring a B-2 bomber being refueled drew one of the more interesting comments, Johnson said. ``One lady said with the music and the clouds that it was like a spiritual commercial,'' he said. The Air Force's new slogan - ``America's Air Force - No One Comes Close'' - drew mostly positively reviews, Johnson said. |
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