What would an old-style sergeant major say? After telling soldiers it was all right to cry, the Army is now seeking recruits from the snowflake generation.

Its new poster campaign appeals to computer game geeks and selfie addicts.

The adverts, unveiled today, are inspired by the famous First World War poster featuring a pointing Lord Kitchener and the slogan ‘Your country needs you’.

Part of a £1.5million recruitment campaign for 2019, they show six soldiers with labels of modern stereotypes, such as ‘phone zombies’ and ‘class clowns’ above the slogan ‘Your Army needs you’.

The new campaign is aiming to appeal to the Millennials, who have also been dubbed as 'snowflakes'

Lord Kitchener (pictured above) on the original recruiting poster for the First World War

The aim is to sign up millennials with compassion, self-belief and focus to boost falling numbers and widen the base of Britain’s 79,000-strong Army.

The campaign is a follow-up to last year’s £1.6million recruitment drive that featured adverts saying it was fine for soldiers to cry, pray and show emotion. It resulted in applications to be a regular soldier hitting a five-year high.

The new radio, TV and online adverts seek to reassure potential recruits that their perceived weaknesses are seen as strengths by the Army. Selfie-takers are lauded as self-confident, phone zombies as having focus and the Me Generation for their self-belief.

New radio, TV and online adverts (featured above) seek to reassure potential recruits their perceived weaknesses are seen as strengths by the Army

Army recruitment chief Major General Paul Nanson said: ‘The Army sees people differently and we are proud to look beyond the stereotypes and spot the potential in young people. We understand the drive they have to succeed.’

Colonel Ben Wilde, assistant head of Army recruiting, told Soldier Magazine: ‘They have a level of technical know-how that my generation generally does not possess.

‘People embarking on their professional life often do not just want a job … they want to do something that matters.’