To celebrate its 400th anniversary and boost recruitment, the National Navy has acquired a massive seduction weapon in the form of rugby player Louis Bielle-Biarrey. While the winger of the French XV is the official ambassador for the year 2026, other influencers and celebrities are also acting as 2.0 human billboards for our armed forces.
A winger in the Navy
With a delightfully retro clip published on his Instagram account, the chief of staff of the Navy announces this new collaboration. “The ‘Marine recruits’ logo is peeling off, it has a new ambassador: Louis Bielle-Biarrey. For the year 2026, the 400th anniversary of @MarineNationale, what better ambassador to embody the 80 trades that exist in the Navy? Combativeness, commitment, team spirit. In the Navy as in sports, the individual takes a backseat to the collective. It is the condition for victory,” the caption explains on the short video in which the rugby player and the French Navy unveil their partnership. On Instagram, the keywords “discipline, rigor, commitment” explain and justify Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s alliance with “the Navy recruits.” This remarkable collaboration is noteworthy because the player on the French XV team continues to gain popularity. “L’Équipe” even reported that “Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s trophy cabinet is starting to run out of space” since “the winger from the French fifteen and the UBB was named the best player of the Six Nations tournament for the second consecutive year.” The Navy has therefore acquired a valuable ambassador who will undoubtedly be a winning bet for its recruitment campaign.
An adventurer among the riflemen
Moreover, the rugby player is not the only one to be the mouthpiece for the Navy: Guillaume, who French fans of “Koh Lanta” have seen in the current season, explained on his Instagram account that he had “disappeared from social networks at this crucial moment at the beginning of the broadcast of #kohlanta for a good reason: I have become a reserve marine rifleman in the National Navy.” This too is a powerful seduction weapon, as evidenced by the enthusiastic reviews from his teammates and viewers regarding him, as reported by “Le Parisien” in a headline that reads: “‘He drives me crazy, he is beautiful, intelligent, muscular’: Guillaume is unanimously appreciated at the launch of Koh-Lanta.” In short, the ideal son-in-law should also be a reservist. Naturally, although congratulations pour in on his video in partnership with the marine riflemen, some internet users are annoyed by this “propaganda operation for the army.”
Massive seduction weapons?
The army is leading a real offensive with its partnerships, particularly on social networks. “The army no longer hesitates to invest in influence to bring fresh blood into its ranks,” explained a France TV report on April 7: 5 million views for McFly and Carlito in the planes of the Patrouille de France, “Tibo InShape becomes a formidable recruiter for national defense,” states the voiceover, which also mentions that even Emmanuel Macron had staged a military workout with the top YouTuber in France. Is this about “guaranteeing a cool image of the armies,” as the report explains? Perhaps, but not only, because the army also has its own military influencers, such as Captain Nicolas Brault, who, with pedagogy, also contributes to re-establishing the link between civilian society and the military.
The communication strategy is not new and certainly not just French. As early as 2023, a program on France Inter criticized this communication strategy and accused these influencers of portraying an idealized image of the army “while carefully avoiding showing the reality of the field.” What seems to have changed since 2023 is that the armies have truly taken, even institutionalized, this communication strategy on social networks and have managed to adapt their recruitment campaign to the target audience: while idealization may be the goal, as shown in the clip with Louis Bielle-Biarrey – it’s about making people want to join – without hiding the discipline and rigor that commitment entails, as shown in the caption of the same clip on Instagram.
Choosing famous ambassadors, collaborating with influencers, or invading social networks with military uniforms? Whatever the case, the armies have clearly managed to adapt their recruitment campaign to the current times without compromising their identity.
