Our buddy, Alex Horton formerly the blogger at Army of Dude now head blogger guy and new media guru at the VA (and infrequent commenter at TAH) sent us this video from the DVA designed to reach out to veterans;
I’d rather see the DVA spend their money on fixing the myriad problems that are inherent in the bureaucracy, but it’s nice to see them take the time to let the younger troops know what’s available to them. I see Alex’ fingerprints all over this. How do you eat an elephant?
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Thanks for putting up the ad Jonn, hopefully it’ll reach the guys and gals who don’t think benefits apply to them (which is many people I’ve found). I can’t take too much credit for the spot; a lot of people in the Office of Public Affairs gave input and suggestions to transform a concept on paper to the commercial you just watched. I can say this though: thoughts and concerns from many veterans were considered during the creative process, and the ad speaks to that.
As for the money spent – there are tons of ways we could spend money better as an agency, but the money to create this ad came from this office alone and had to be spent on public affairs initiatives. It would be great to use those dollars to, say, hire 100 call center people or 100 claims specialists, but it wouldn’t be legal. As far as fulfilling the mission of public affairs, the ad does its job.
Alex, I want to commend you on your commitment to Veterans by working for the VA. Although it almost killed me, some of the greatest years of my life were spent working in the Vet Center Program. Thank you for your continued service to our country’s most valuable resource, VETERANS!
Honor and Courage