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Fun fact: Lockheed Martin advertises the F-35 during football games, because even though most of the audience isn't in the market for massive government contrac
by Bratmon 8mo ago
Fun fact: Lockheed Martin advertises the F-35 during football games, because even though most of the audience isn't in the market for massive government contracts, the people who are are watching.
I suspect the Ring mass surveillance ads are the same thing.
- chasd00 8mo agoThe Super Bowl fly over was kind of random. My son said it was f18s, f35s, and f15s. I was able to make out the two b1bs. It was like the air force forgot about the flyover and just scrambled whatever was on the closest tarmac.
- deleted 8mo ago[deleted]
- gerdesj 8mo agoGiven your description, its good to see the USAAF are clearly on the ball when it comes to security. If, say, all your B1s overflew the nutjob bowl then certain planners across the world might decide to act in a certain way. A random assortment leaves everyone guessing.
- alex43578 8mo agoYou could have a 9 plane fly-by of just B2s, and you’d still have less than half our operational stock committed (disregarding maintenance/readiness issues). Using a few planes for a fly-by, particularly of anything other than B2, wouldn’t possibly “give away” any info.
- esseph 8mo agoThey had several days in advance of training together. It was all planned in advanced. https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4384084/air-force-navy-aircraft-to-fly-over-super-bowl-lx/ https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4384084/air-...
- runjake 8mo agoThis seemed like a standard flyover. What struck you about it being random? Caveat: A non-trivial number of air assets are currently stationed or assigned on the other side of the world right now. Citation: I used to be involved with flyovers.
- throwup238 8mo agoUSAF also has a pilot shortage. Could have just been whatever the available pilots were certified to fly.
- chasd00 8mo agocoming back to this way too late. I was half joking, it just seemed like an odd mix of planes. Like i would expect a B1 + 4 F18s, or like a B2 and 2 F-22s or maybe just a group of 5 F-16s. The variety of aircraft from the variety of eras was just kind of amusing to me. Plus the one B1 that was behind a few seconds with afterburners as if it was trying to catch up to the group almost made me laugh out loud.
- mmooss 8mo agoThe soldier recognition events are actually paid advertisements by the US military. I think flyovers are too?
- asdff 8mo agoThese sorts of advertisements make no sense for me. Who is the buyer? Some senator on some appropriations committee? Maybe some nato equivalent? And they need a 10 second flyover during a superbowl to be reminded of the existence of the f-35 program?
- bigyabai 8mo agoAgain, 99.999% of the viewers aren't really in the position to finance a $120 million fighter jet. However, the ~0.001% that are in that position will probably be watching, and feel FOMO for not having the iPhone of strike fighters. Even if it only moves the needle on 2-3 sales every decade, the ROI is probably great.
- asdff 8mo agoI'm just saying, that random saudi prince or whatever with $120 million and the green light to buy military hardware is probably well aware of the f35 already. Plus only plane nerds in the know are going to know what the hell just flew over. For everyone else its a military jet shaped jet same as the rest.
- bigyabai 8mo agoThat ticks both the boxes. Plane nerds are blogging online, and the Saudi princes are doing napkin math in the VIP booth. 3,000lbs of avgas is only a few thousand dollars, you can run a formation flight for less than $15,000 plus maintenance. Cynically speaking, that's a bit of a steal when you've got the private sector paying millions for a 30-second ad spot.
- wyldfire 8mo ago> Who is the buyer? Who do you know who is currently sitting in a seat of massive power in the US Government, watches TV and says things like, "I need to have that! Why do we not have that already? It will project strength, and all the best governments project strength at every opportunity!"
- lukev 8mo agoIt’s not just for purchasers… it’s to build consensus/approval around the concept of the US military-industrial complex.
- godelski 8mo agoIs the same idea around why companies like Coke make ads. Does anyone seriously think Coke needs brand recognition? LOL Car companies do this too. Frequently expensive cars are advertised to people who could never buy them. The ad makes them associate it with luxury. That helps rich people associate it with luxury because luxury is often based on a social consensus. Maybe all ads are made to sell you things, but the thing being solid is always an idea. Sometimes that idea isn't as simple as "go buy this now"
- stavros 8mo agoAhh, the old "I want to own this because you know you can't". Veblen goods are status symbols, and something can't confer status if nobody else knows they're supposed to be awed by how expensive it is.
- dfadsadsf 8mo agoCoca Cola actually have to run ads to stay relevant. War in Ukraine provided nice experiment - Coca Cola stopped all advertisement in Russia in 2022 and results are in. - Feb–Mar 2022 (before full production/marketing stoppage): RosIndex reported that 94.3% knew the Coca-Cola brand. - 2023 (roughly a year after global brands stopped producing in Russia): 88.6% of consumers knew the Coca-Cola brand. 5.7% drop in recognition in one year translates to billions of losses if scaled to US market. So yes, Coca Cola has to constantly run ads.