While flipping through a recent issue of Government Security News, I came across this gem: An ad for DRS Technologies, a manufacturer of military electronics and surveillance equipment. It's a full-page come-on for the company's "competitively priced" line of electro-optical/infrared surveillance cams, the Compact High-Resolution Infrared Long-Wave Imager, a.k.a. CHILI, and the Jalapeno modular imaging system. Cute, huh?

As the ad seems to imply, CHILI ("the choice for border surveillance and force protection applications") and Jalapeno ("high performance in a small package") are supposed to be ideal for monitoring the U.S.-Mexico frontier. Now, defense contractors rarely score points for sensitivity. But this ad – which features a sepia-toned photo of the border fence, with the menacing tagline "Tourist or terrorist?" – suggests a marketing department that is willing to push the boundaries of taste. Que malo, DRS. Que malo.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into things: I mean, no one raised much of a fuss about the Army's plan to dub their next-generation self-propelled howitzer the Crusader, regardless of the message that might have sent to our Middle Eastern allies. So, some free advice for DRS Technologies: If you want to market these products to the Mexican government, rethink your acronyms. Or invent some that make a subtle dig at the Yankees: How about "HOTDOG" or "BIG-GULP?"

Anyway, if you've got more examples of awesomely bad advertisements from the military-industrial complex, drop us a line. We won't report you to la policia, we promise.

[PHOTO: Nathan Hodge]

See Also: