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I do not like the idea of paying for the government to manipulate and play upon people's emotions. This smacks of the kind of propaganda North Korea and Russia would use. What other ways are they playing us?

Paying the NFL to salute our troops?
May. 12, 2015 - 5:40 - Sen. Jeff Flake speaks out about Department of Defense shelling out millions of taxpayer dollars to NFL

http://video.foxnews.com/v/423164335800 ... show-clips" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Your thoughts?

If you consider the National Guard as a product or a brand, then it was paid advertising. No different than the Postal Service sponsoring a bicycle team or the NG paying for a NASCAR team. I don't like that we're marketing the military but recruiting on the street only gets so many, I guess.

It's advertising. The various branches of the US Armed Forces spend tens of millions per year to do so. I see your point, but it's no different than any of the other advertising they do.

Does it matter when advertising is obviously an advertisement and when it is not obvious is an advertisement?

mojo84 wrote:Does it matter when advertising is obviously an advertisement and when it is not obvious is an advertisement?

Yes. Though personally, at this point, given all the hidden advertising out there I just assume the message is bought and paid for whether it is admitted or not.

Maybe I'm jaded, but I generally assume that advertising is bought and paid for. The NFL isn't going to foot the bill for a dog and pony show like that. I'm pretty sure they pay for the flyovers at the beginnings of the games, too.

VMI77 wrote:

mojo84 wrote:Does it matter when advertising is obviously an advertisement and when it is not obvious is an advertisement?

Yes. Though personally, at this point, given all the hidden advertising out there I just assume the message is bought and paid for whether it is admitted or not.

Lol, beat me to it

I view this differently than recruiting ads we see on TV like the "Army Strong" commercials. Until I read this thread and watched the video, I thought it was just the NFL teams showing support for the troops, now I know otherwise. It's not unlawful or unethical in my view, but I do think it's deceptive. The NFL wasn't honoring those who served, they were earning money and they were doing so at the taxpayers' expense in two ways. First, they got paid by the DOD and they earned the money in sports stadiums paid for by taxpayers. I love pro football, but I hate the NFL for many reasons. Now I have one more.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:I view this differently than recruiting ads we see on TV like the "Army Strong" commercials. Until I read this thread and watched the video, I thought it was just the NFL teams showing support for the troops, now I know otherwise. It's not unlawful or unethical in my view, but I do think it's deceptive. The NFL wasn't honoring those who served, they were earning money and they were doing so at the taxpayers' expense in two ways. First, they got paid by the DOD and they earned the money in sports stadiums paid for by taxpayers. I love pro football, but I hate the NFL for many reasons. Now I have one more.

Chas.

Charles, I see your point, but at the same time I wouldn't put too much fault in them for this. They would still honor the troops, but maybe not quite as much. They wouldn't stop singing the anthem, or waving flags, but they might not have the padded walls on the sides of the field with "Salute To Service" messaging on them. These things cost money.

In the last few years the NFL has honored different causes each month, including veterans/armed forces during November. If you pay close attention it is on the uniforms, in the stands, the walls, outside signage, etc. All of this costs money. The amounts being paid by DOD to some of these teamss is a paltry sum considering the amount of notoriety they get.

After some deep thinking and soul searching, I don't think I have a problem with this. I guess I just see it as another form of advertising for the military. Nobody's getting hurt, yes it is a little deceptive, but the cynic(sp?) in me doesn't think the NFL or any major corporation does anything out of the goodness of their hearts.

They just talked about this on KRLD radio a few hours ago. Supposedly the NFL says they have not nor will they pay for any advertising giving honor to the troops. They state that this is their way to honor them.

Now, I believe the NFL about as much as I do our politicians and I am just stating what was said.

This is a bigger deal than deflategate. The NFL needs to return the 5 million dollars to the taxpayers. And continue to support the troops at their games for free.

philip964 wrote:This is a bigger deal than deflategate. The NFL needs to return the 5 million dollars to the taxpayers. And continue to support the troops at their games for free.

Should the TV networks return the advertising money they've received for spot time as well?

To my mind, this is kind of like the difference between being charitable on the down low, versus bragging about your charity........or praying in private versus making a big show out of praying in public.

How much is "saluting the troops" worth, if they have to pay you to do it?

Someone in my family once offended my wife, son and me so egregiously that we packed our bags and left.....right then and there. She followed us, begging us to come back, which we were not going to do until she admitted how far out of line she was and apologized.......but I wasn't going to tell her to apologize...... she was a grownup and should have known better. Finally, without any suggestion from me, she said, "If I apologize, will you come back?" In other words, she wasn't willing to apologize because it was the right thing to do, but she was willing to apologize as a bargaining chip to get me to return. If, instead of having offered to apologize in exchange for our return, she should have just simply apologized because it was the right thing to do, whether or not I came back.

I declined, and we went and found a hotel.

That's what bragging about your prayers and charity, or accepting payment to salute someone who richly deserves the salute are like for me. They say that Character is what you do when nobody is looking.

Next there will be a charge for singing the national anthem. This whole thing stinks.