The Marines Want More Asians

It's not so much bullets, beans, or bandages Marines are short of ... it's Asians.

Tony Perry of the LA Times reported today that the Marine Corps has started marketing toward Asians and Pacific Islanders in particular.

An American Chinese Marine pulling down Saddam statue
From the Times:

From focus groups, Marine leadership learned that family honor and the concept of self-betterment through education are key values among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, according to Lt. Col. Raphael Hernandez, assistant chief of staff, advertising, for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

In another situation, the focus groups' observations might be borderline questionable (if they weren't totally complementary).

Needless to say, there are demographics and targeted ads for a reason: to attract a certain type of person.

Perry notes the exact demographic breakdown of the Corps, "Asian Americans account for 2.41% of the Marine Corps, Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, .65%. These percentages compare with 68.86% Anglo, 10.13% African American and 13.46% Latino."

Arguably a pretty diverse lot.