Celebrities the Pentagon turned to this year to help boost army recruitment

YouTube superstar MrBeast, singer Kelly Clarkson and TV presenter Guy Fieri were among the celebrities to be paid by the US Department of Defence last year in an effort to influence Gen Z to join the military amid low recruitment levels.

Documents obtained by Rolling Stone reveal that America’s Got Talent, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Downey’s Dream Cars, The Price Is Right, Fieri’s All-American Road Trip, and The Jennifer Hudson Show all received funding from production assistance agreements (PAAs), which are first approved by the Pentagon – the US defence headquarters.

The Pentagon also approved funding to MrBeast to lead a humanitarian effort in Puerto Rico to be broadcast to his 340 million subscribers, but the deal fell through.

“Social media and other digital media platforms provide opportunities to engage with young people and their mentors and to inform them about career paths and life in the military,” a Government Accountability Office report into recruitment marketing reads, adding: “Social media discussions, videos, and memes, influences [Gen Z’s] values and beliefs.”

However, in the US, the federal government prohibits the military from using TikTok – the most popular social media app for the younger generations – due to its links to Chinese investors.

According to the report, only 35 per cent of Gen Z (those aged 13 to 28) hold favourable views of the military since 2021, and a growing sentiment of mistrust from young people towards large institutions is the critical issue driving low recruitment numbers.

From July 2023 to June 2024, the department spent $US1.9 billion ($3.06 billion) on traditional and digital recruitment and advertising efforts to address the low recruitment issues.

The funding agreements are part of a longstanding quid pro quo between the US military and the entertainment industry.