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The US military is taking the old adage “sex sells” to another level by using sexually suggestive social media posts on TikTok and Instagram—known as thirst traps—in an effort to recruit members of Generation Z in response to military recruitment numbers falling below goals in recent years. The main subject of Alan MacLeod’s MintPress News investigation is Army Psychological Operations Specialist Hailey Lujan, who has amassed more than nine hundred thousand TikTok followers and three hundred thousand followers on Instagram, based on her videos which feature “sexually suggestive content alongside subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) calls to join up.”
This drastic change from soldiers bringing pull-up bars for recruitment sessions during high school lunch periods to using female sexuality online to lure teenage boys into an institution with a horrendous record of sexual assault against female soldiers adds new questions about what exactly the military seeks to accomplish with these videos. Lujan’s videos seemingly violate the code of conduct of the image-conscious US military, and it is unclear what role the military has in producing Lujan’s content. Nonetheless, Lujan appears to remain an active member of the army. According to MacLeod, “Multiple videos suggest Lujan is connected with the 101st Airborne Division. Location data shows she is based at Fort Campbell, a large military installation on the Tennessee-Kentucky border that houses the storied division.”
The self-aware nature of these accounts sticks out. Lujan frequently references the allegations that she is a federal agent and a psyop (a psychological operation), captioning her videos with comments such as, “My handlers made me post this” or “Not endorsed by the DoD [Department of Defense] :’) :3,” MacLeod reported. Videos often include Lujan flaunting heavy weapons, modeling high-end clothes she supposedly bought with her signing bonus, and one of her in Donald Trump Jr.’s penthouse. None of these videos explain the actual responsibilities of military life. “Lujan’s content appears to be a part of a weird new strategy of military outreach, shocking academics and military experts alike,” MacLeod reported. Lujan is not the only online military influencer, but her overt use of her sensuality and her constant encouragement of her followers to enlist make her noteworthy.
“I can’t believe she’s getting away with posting some of this stuff,” said journalist and veteran Rosa del Duca in an interview with MintPress News, “Everyone learns in boot camp that when you are in uniform, you cannot act unprofessionally, or you get in deep trouble.” MacLeod reached out to the Department of Defense for clarification but received no response.
Additionally, the Army has been sponsoring various popular content creators—such as YouTube stars Ben Azelart (27 million subscribers) and Michelle Khare (4.5 million)—to “join” for a day. These videos portray military training as nothing but fun obstacle courses similar to those featured on some television game shows. Unlike Lujan’s videos, these “join for a day” videos make clear that the US Army has total control of production, with the obvious goal of rebranding the military’s image for a generation that sees military service in increasingly negative light. The branches of the US military are no stranger to partnerships with entertainment giants that traditionally engage viewers from all walks of life—as in armed forces’ partnerships with the National Football League. But this new attempt to appeal to niche youth audiences has not been scrutinized, which is especially troubling because studies show the young targets of these videos often have trouble distinguishing between sponsored and un-sponsored content.
“It is now well-established (if not well-known) that the Department of Defense also fields a giant clandestine army of at least 60,000 people whose job it is to influence public opinion, the majority doing so from their keyboards,” MacLeod reported, noting that, in doing so, “this troll army was likely breaking both domestic and international law.”
Using social media for military recruiting is not a new strategy, and the military’s venture in e-sports has received previous corporate coverage, notably when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sought to bar the use of funds for recruiting efforts on live-streaming websites, such as Twitch, and in e-sports. However, this new psychosexual recruiting method has not received the same level of pushback from the media or politicians.
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