Countries such as China, Russia and the US, whose armies stopped mandatory conscription and moved to a volunteer basis are competing with corporate jobs for labor, which means that government-sanctioned videos are released as a marketing strategy for recruiting more people into the armed forces. The propaganda spread through these videos employs a certain rhetoric that aims at using language and visuals to target the viewers in different ways. In Russian advertisements, the person portrayed maintains a serious, stoic expression and displays a sharp focus. High-quality cinematography not only shows the amount of investment made into these advertisements; but emphasizes the importance of character-building. One can argue that the man embodies an alpha male, where masculinity is shown through strength and is prioritized as a characteristic. The comments on the video talk about the men being “strong” and there being “grit and conviction”. Basically, they are trying to portray this big daddy man. The Russian invasion of Ukraine reinstated the masculine image of strength, virility, and domination — ‘reclaiming’ territory through dedicated, selfless soldiers who will do anything for their nation. One must prove themselves and their patriotic duty to the country - which supersedes all other commitments. The nation is then depicted with a masculine protector image with ideal character traits. In the Chinese Military Commercial 2019: "We Will Always Be Here", the focus is on the word “HERE”. There are many implications for this starting with the idea of territory and location. The word gives a sense of the motherland being physically where you are, grounding one to the area they live in. The advertisement associates personal identity with one’s residence and uses territory as the driving factor. In conjunction with this, when the line “HERE is where we belong” came up, they showed the ground the soldiers were running on. The Chinese are trying to associate loyalty to the country and fulfilling one’s duties (similar to Russia), but now use the allegory of the nation as the physical space it occupies. Furthermore, the Chinese focus on a sense of reform and innovation which is the central theme of their propaganda. The usage of the word reform establishes the idea of an improvement of ideas and goals (from a formerly ‘weaker’ Chinese state, as emphasized by the Communist Party) to a newer, stronger, powerful country; depicting extremist, loyalist identities. This is accompanied by a dedicated focus on their machinery and missile advancements along with their military training. This technological enticement adds to the propaganda of luring in the ‘tech-savvy’ gen-z. So while there is a sense of personal development for the ones who would enlist in the army, it is also about the technological developments with respect to the new and improved nation. Propaganda through the use of multimedia can have a brainwashing effect with very visible impacts. Overall, the recruitment videos are designed to appeal to viewers' emotions, duty, and national identity. They idolize war and violence, romanticizing destruction and bloodshed and emphasizing an ‘us vs. them’ mindset. The country’s survival is reinforced using vastly different images of a nation: protecting one’s territory and physical land, as well as protecting the image of the perfect, masculine figure that reflects the ideal country. Therefore, the imagery used in these recruitment videos attempts to depict territory and masculinity in a way that lures the targeted crowd to join these armies and serve their country.

References: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqek78JXckwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOWRembdPS8https://taskandpurpose.com/news/russian-military-recruiting-commercial-not-reality/https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2019/7/1/on-society-and-the-military-reflections-in-recruitment-videos