A Scots Guardsman has said he plans to resign from the British Army after his face was used without his knowledge to recruit ‘snowflakes’ and turn them into soldiers.

Stephen McWhirter, 28, spoke out on Facebook after the controversial new Army recruitment posters were unveiled last week.

He said he had no idea his image would be used in the drive targeting Generation Z that stated: ‘snowflakes – the army needs you and your compassion.’

The recruitment campaign poster using Stephen McWhirter’s face (Picture: British Army)

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The soldier, based at Wellington Barracks in London, spoke about the £1.5million promotional push in a discussion with fellow squaddies online, according to the Mail on Sunday.




He said he was bombarded with sarcastic messages from colleagues and has accused the army of leaving him open to ridicule by placing his face alongside the derogatory term snowflake which is used to describe someone being over-emotional, easily offended or unable to deal with opposing opinions.

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Mr McWhirter, who joined the Army in 2016 and has protected the Queen at Buckingham Palace, said he will resign at the ‘earliest opportunity’.

‘Imagine the army taking a photo of you and writing “snow flake” in massive bold letters above your head. I’d be signed straight off,’ another soldier wrote in response to the poster.

Mr McWhirter responded by writing: ‘Don’t f*****g worry, mate, I am.’

Mr McWhirter said on Facebook that he plans to resign at the earliest opportunity (Picture: @stephen_mcwhirter)

Under the terms of his employment the soldier will be able to hand in his notice to top brass in five months.

He passed out of the Army’s Infantry Training Centre at Catterick, North Yorkshire, in 2017 and has performed public duties with the Scots Guards in London and Edinburgh.

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Army bosses who have already been forced to defend the hugely expensive advertising campaign which comes in the midst of a recruitment crisis.

The Army calls out binge gamers, class clowns, phone zombies and snowflakes in a twist to Lord Kitchener’s famous ‘Your Country Needs You’ slogan.

The Your Army Needs You campaign suggests the potentially overlooked raw skills of people like gamers and daydreamers could be seen as a strength by the Army.

It’s been criticised since its release last week, causing politicians to step in to defend it.

The new recruitment drive by the British Army, ‘Your Army Needs You’, aims at targeting young people (Picture: PA)

Selfie addicts, gamers, phone zombies and snowflakes were all targeted in the campaign (Picture: PA)

Tory MP James Cleverly wrote on Twitter: ‘People criticising the British Army’s new snowflake recruitment campaign are missing the point.

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‘The army has always recruited from the society it serves and often from those who some describe as “not up to the mark”. It then turns those recruits into world-class soldiers.’

Defence secretary Gavin Williamson described the campaign as ‘a powerful call to action that appeals to those seeking to make a difference as part of an innovative and inclusive team’.

He said: ‘It shows that time spent in the Army equips people with skills for life and provides comradeship, adventure and opportunity like no other job does.



‘Now all jobs in the Army are open to men and women. The best just got better.’

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