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Paid for military tributes in the news again


Beerball

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Conflating the argument to say they're the same is absurd and "Paid patriotism" seems about right.

 

If the Army, Marines, Navy, or Air Force run a recruiting ad on television I think everyone understands they're paying for that.

 

But a sports team hosting a contingent of uniformed or former military doesn't give the appearance of an attempt to recruit at all.

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Conflating the argument to say they're the same is absurd and "Paid patriotism" seems about right.

 

If the Army, Marines, Navy, or Air Force run a recruiting ad on television I think everyone understands they're paying for that.

 

But a sports team hosting a contingent of uniformed or former military doesn't give the appearance of an attempt to recruit at all.

But the biggest problem, no one truly knows what the "payment" goes for. Does it cover all the Air National Guard signage around the stadium or does it cover the cost of the flyovers/guards tickets/public display during and before games?

 

I believe these "payments" cover the advertisements and such around the stadium and in the game day publications.

 

So its ok for the A/M/N/AF/NG to pay TVs for ads, however during the holidays when they do similar service men/woman shoutouts to their families...is that in honor of our troops, or were those paid ad spots? if those were paid ad spots, how did those random service individuals get selected, via lottery or paying to do it?

 

These what if statements could go on and on.

 

Because of this, I have no problem with them paying for advertisements, and no problem with the "Honor the Troops" campaigns as I do not see them as the same. Not all teams get this revenue, but all teams do the honoring...so that to me indicates a demarcation line is drawn somewhere. However, the NFL business models and pricing will never be made public because that is proprietary to their overall successful business venture.

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Much different.

so would you point the finger at the nfl or the military for the nature of the difference? if the military is buying up time and space to do what they want and the nfl is accommodating that -- to some degree, its only kind of different, in that the military is more subtle in the recruitment than the slap you in the face with it commercials.

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I absolutely do not want to derail this thread, but this really doesn't sit well with me. I just think we deserve better

 

It's not just the people at the stadium, and the coverage during the broadcast (and often they'll replay shots of the military when they come back from break), but something greater that seems to be what I despise. It seems that American football is synonymous with supporting your troops, and I don't see why that needs to be. It's very transparent and obvious that since it's the most watched sport and the target demographic for military recruitment that all of it is fake.

 

Military support is one thing, but there is an unrelenting sensation, a precedent that is being set (if you will), that we are to EXPECT to spend a lot of time honoring the troops and pretend it's not a sham being run down our throats.

Terrorist! Those words lead me to think you might be a terrorist, or at least an enemy combatant, which means a secret court can grant a warrant to review your internet searches and phone calls from the last however long they have been being stored in that server farm I'm Utah. Fourth amendment is literally shredded, but instead of people getting angry about it we support our Troops (notice the capital T,the individual troops make huge sacrifices, I'm talking about the support for the military industrial complex which is really the propaganda we are being fed), and get all riled up about fringe issues, like gun rights, immigration, gay marriage, abortion, welfare.

 

All those issue are really important, but we are so set to have hot takes, and instant solutions that we lose the bigger point...those problems are complex, and the only way to solve them is to agree that they need a complex solution, that focuses on the cause and not the symptoms.

 

Back to military buying spots at sporting events. They get a discount and preferential access to those spots (walmart would love to sing the national anthem I'm sure, and I mean really walmart, because corporations are people, haven't you heard?), and the it's no coincidence they are involved in the opening ceremonies of games. It's simple behaviorism, people are happy at the start of games, they see the military while having good feelings, and next time they see something military, they get happy feelings. Propaganda 101.

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Doesn't the military pay for ads all over television? This really is no different.

Of course it's different. Your beer adds you know are paid for. Pushing patriotism shouldn't be unless it's done overtly. Why do you think they have those disclaimers at the end of political adds, i.e. "Paid for by the dimwit campaign committee?" It's to explain that the tv station or network is not sponsoring or backing a particular candidate.

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@darrenrovell

NFL says its auditing team contracts with Department of Defense. Will refund $ if found that military tributes were paid for.

 

This makes me think there is a heck of a lot more to the story than people know. The fact that they are "auditing" team contracts with the DoD means that there is a bigger picture here that people are just mashing together. It's akin to complaining about the city paying for something crazy, but then someone clarifying to you that the payment was part of a broader program that did other things. I think people should untwist their panties, and reserve judgement until they know exactly what was paid for.

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