• The New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2008 10:13 AM

In a new campaign from the Marine Corps, a print ad shows a female striking a martial arts pose in front of a crowd of men who are looking to her as their leader. The tag line: "There are no female marines. Only marines." The campaign is a big departure for the Marines, which until last year advertised to women only fitfully.

Jay Cronin, management director of the Marine Corps' agency, JWT, says that for the first time everyone involved took the time to "understand the psychographics"--that is, figuring out which women might actually want to join the military, and why. That is why the campaign aims at athletic women, not just all women graduating from high school.

Women are not the only ones being courted specifically. The Marines Corps is reaching out to Latinos with ads that emphasize family and honor ("Each unit in the Corps is a family, and each member knows they never stand alone"), and to Arab-Americans with a message about nationality and identity ("I am American. I am Arab. I am a Marine ... I know where I stand").

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