Army lost recruits after paying a celebrity millions to recruit new soldiers

This photo was featured in one of the two Instagram posts Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made as part of an $11 million deal with the Army. (Instagram)

The Army is blaming a celebrity for a recruiting advertising failure after they paid millions to post to his Instagram.

The U.S. Army struck an $11 million advertising deal with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his United Football League in hopes of attracting recruits.

But a new report shows it backfired and ended up putting their recruiting numbers into the negatives.

As per the agreement, Johnson was supposed to post five Army ads on his Instagram -which has 396 million followers- but only posted two.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson visits with service members at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Nov. 15. 2023. Johnson’s visit includes an office call with Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Gen. Randy A. George, additional Army Senior Leaders and is joined by Chairwoman and owner of The Garcia Companies, Dany Garcia, CEO of Fox Sports, Eric Shanks, President of Content at ESPN, Burke Magnus, CEO/President of XFL, Russ Brandon, Chief Operating Partner at Redbird Capital Partners, Mark Dowley, Founder and Managing Partner at Redbird Capital, Gerry Cardinale and Managing Director at Redbird Capital Partners, Kevin LaForce. (U.S. Army photo by Henry Villarama)

The UFL, which Johnson is the co-owner, was also required to show military ads during games and place Army logos on players’ uniforms during its first season this year.

The Army hoped to attract thousands of recruits but the UFL’s debut was lackluster and ended up costing the Army 38 enlistments, according to documents reviewed by military.com.

Command Sgt. Maj. Brain Hester, Command Sergeant Major, Army Futures Command, participated in a community outreach event to expand the Army’s influence, and to promote Army messaging and opportunities during the United Football Leagues, San Antonio Brahmas vs. The Birmingham Stallions Memorial Day Weekend Appreciation Game, Saturday, May 25th, 2024, Alamo Dome, San Antonio, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by: Austin Thomas)

“In terms of The Rock, it’s unfortunate he was pulled away at a time when we expected him to be present with us to create content for his social media channels,” Col. Dave Butler, a spokesperson for Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, told Military.com.

Despite the alleged breach of contract, Butler said that Johnson “remains a good partner for the Army” and they are working with the UFL to “rebalance” the contract.

Army Futures Command Team attends Renegade UFL game in Arlington, TX on March 30, 2024. (Photo by Master Sgt. Katie Smith)

This isn’t the first time the Army has failed to attract recruits through sports sponsorships.

In 2012, the National Guard spent $26.5 million to sponsor NASCAR racing but failed to sign up a single recruit.

From, 2011 to 2013 they spent a total of $88 million as a NASCAR sponsor.

Read More: Army says it will meet its recruiting goal by giving poor-performing recruits a second chance

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