One Of The Most Popular Stars Of All Time
Dwayne Johnson is indisputably one of the biggest actors in the world. He is one of the top five most followed Instagram accounts with 396 million followers, so it is easy to see why the Pentagon felt he could get the word out.
Their deal with Johnson was that he would share five U.S. Army ads on his Instagram to try and drum up interest. However, Johnson only wound up sharing two.
The Rock Didn’t Spur Recruitment
Worse yet, even with what The Rock did do, it apparently did not help at all, as the U.S. Army reports they did not see a single new recruit as a result of the initiative. In fact, they say they lost 38. Dwayne Johnson has not commented on the matter publicly, but the Pentagon understandably is regarding the sponsorship as an ineffective usage of resources and wishes they had invested elsewhere instead.
The UFL Involvement
It is not just Dwayne Johnson who was involved but also a partnership between the Pentagon with the United Football League for the same sponsorship. The UFL is co-owned by Johnson, and there was a deal for them to play ads for the Army during their games. But that also was apparently ineffective, resulting in the Pentagon seeking the remaining $6 million from the UFL, hoping to recover the full $11 million from both parties.
The Two Sides Are Trying To Work Together
Regarding Dwayne Johnson and his brands not living up to what the Pentagon expected, Colonel Dave Butler said, “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.” It sounds like Johnson not posting the full five promised Instagram posts is still a source of disappointment. However, they don’t seem to take it personally. “We’re working with the UFL to rebalance the contract. The Rock remains a good partner to the Army.”
Recruitment Has Been Hard For Awhile
It should be noted that this is not exactly the only time that the military’s attempt at using sponsors to generate more recruits has failed. The National Guard had a similar experience in 2011 when they spent $88 million in a sponsorship with NASCAR. That deal also did not cause any change in recruitment. So, even if Dwayne Johnson is not popular with the Pentagon currently, he is not alone.
A Major Movie Coming Up
Dwayne Johnson’s estimated worth is around $800 million, so even if he does wind up having to pay back $11 million to the Pentagon, he should not see much change to his value. Plus, with Moana 2 set to come out and be another huge hit for Disney, Johnson will likely be able to quickly recoup the amount.
