On Monday, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), released its first-ever video recruiting ad to be played on streaming services.
“Today, CIA unveiled its first ever ad on streaming services, marking a new milestone for the Agency’s recruitment efforts,” the agency said in a press release. The advertising campaign, titled “Discover the CIA: Your Nation Is Counting On You,” is set to run in 90-second, 60-second, and 15-second advertising spots.
Sheronda Dorsey, head of CIA Talent Acquisition, said “We’re meeting Americans right where they are—on streaming platforms—to share a glimpse of an exciting CIA career and what it could mean for their futures.”
The agency shared a 60-second version of the ad in Monday’s press release. Watch it below:
“It only takes one new piece…of foreign intelligence…and everything can change in an instant,” a CIA instructor says as the video begins.
The advertisement then cuts to a shot of an intelligence analyst making a breakthrough observation and calling up her supervisor to say “I think I found something.”
Later in the video, a pair of agents discuss completing a hand-off of a thumb-drive presumably containing classified information.
“You’re gonna be able to see the whole thing?” a female agent asks her male counterpart.
“Yep, gonna be on the roof right here. Best seat in the house,” he responds before the video cuts to shots of the female agent covertly accepting the thumb drive in a handshake with a human source on the street, all while her partner watches out for her.
The video concludes as the same CIA instructor provides a voice-over, “The nation . . . is counting on you to discover the truth . . . Ladies and gentlemen…welcome…to the CIA.”
The video ends with the female agent saying, “You can play a role protecting our nation. Start a career at the CIA and do more for your country than you ever dreamed possible.”
The streaming advertisement comes as many millions of Americans are spending more time at home, watching streaming services during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Since becoming Director, I prioritized how, where, and whom we recruit to be the next generation of CIA officers. Advertising on streaming services is an important step forward to reach talented Americans with the diversity of experiences we require to continue to be the world’s premier intelligence service,” CIA Director Gina Haspel said of the new advertisement.
A CIA spokesman told Fox News that the new video campaign is a “continuation of the agency’s focused recruitment efforts,” which in the past year has also seen the agency’s debut on the popular Instagram social media app.
The CIA has produced video ads in the past, which it has posted to its YouTube channel, but The New York Times reported this new campaign is the first intended for a television audience.
The agency released this video in 2018, advertising the agency’s Directorate of Operations.
