British army targeted “stressed” 16-year-olds on exam-results day with Facebook recruitment ads

mostlysignssomeportents:

Every August, British 16-year-olds get their marks from the GCSE exams, a
high-stakes test that has an enormous impact on their future
educational and earnings prospects; on results day 2015, the British
Army used Facebook targeting to reach these 16-year-olds with messages
like “No matter what your results will be, you can still improve
yourself in the army.”

The campaign has been condemned by Child Soldiers International. The UK
is the only EU member-state where 16 year olds can join the army. A leaked Army document
published in 2017 found that the army was targeting the poorest
children in the UK for recruitment, focusing on those coming from
families with annual incomes below £10,000.

https://boingboing.net/2018/06/11/child-soldiers-innit.html