• by Todd Wasserman , October 17, 2022

The U.S. Navy addresses skeptics with a new ad seeking to convince Gen Z to consider a career in the sea service.

The ad, via VMLY&R, starts with a Navy enlistee who recalls, “I said I’d never join.”

“I thought living on a sub would be too hard,” another one says.

A third says she figured only the weatherman tracked storms.

The ad then shows Navy enlistees comparing their old lives to their new one. “I never knew how strong I was,” says one female enlistee. “I never thought this would be my commute,” another one says while climbing up a ladder.

The ad then shows Navy workers in action, stopping attacks and shooting guns. “Joining the Navy sounds crazy,” one soldier says. “Saying never actually is."

The ad is designed to appeal to the 98% of the eligible youth market that said “never” to a career in the Navy before exploring the possibilities, according to a statement from VMLY&R.

The ad will run on streaming services like Hulu. The Navy no longer advertises on regular television.