Matchbox’s Child Soldiers

Ogilvy & Mather Singapore

Kids and war—always a bad combo, right? Not for the folks at Matchbox and Ogiilvy & Mather, who just unveiled their “Young Warriors” ad campaign in Singapore. The photo-realistic ads depict tween boys as virtual GI Joeys, flying jets and attack copters and straddlng a battle-scarred M1 Abrams tank in what sure looks like Iraq.

Particularly creepy are the kids’ stoic, hardened expressions. As Copyranter (H/T) notes, “I get the point: Matchbox makes realistic little war machine replicas. But what’s with the thousand-mile stares on the young faux dogfaces?” (A commenter quips back, “You try living in the shit for a year when you’re eight. You’ll get the stare, too.”) I suppose Matchbox gets some credit for not going for the “combat is good, clean fun” G.I. Joe-type vibe that’s usually used to sell war toys. Though by not going that route, it’s unintentionally created a campaign that makes war seem like anything but a game.