UPDATE -- DoD Advertising Regulations

We've been trying to educate stock photography users for years about the Department of Defense's regulations for the use of photography in advertising. Few advertisers were interested, and with pretty good reason -- DoD didn't promote the regulations very well and didn't enforce them at all. That just changed. DoD has a new person responsible for this issue and she seems actually intent on putting some teeth in the rules.

Here's a summary of the regulations:



First, the idea is that you can't suggest that US DoD endorses your company or your products in any way. That means that nothing in your advertising illustrations or ad copy can link any part of DoD to your product or service.

So how do you promote to the military marketplace? First, avoid showing any US distinctive markings, insignia, or uniforms. One advertiser in ARMY TIMES has been running a series of ads for months that show a soldier in ACUs, complete with rank insignia and a US ARMY branch tape on his shirt, and identified by name (fictitious, I believe) in the ad copy. The same advertiser has a portrait of a Marine in dress blues, and other people, all of whom are identified as being members of the US armed forces one way or another. These uses seem to be in violation of the regulations, both the images and the text in the ad.

Compliance with the regulations isn't really difficult. Here are the basics:

Don't include any US-specific insignia anywhere in the ad. You can show a F-15 aircraft because many nations operate F-15s, but you can't include the distinctive star-and-bars logo used by the Air Force. You already have a good photo of the F-15 you want to use in an ad, but it has a visible insignia? Photoshop it out and the photo will probably be in compliance.

1. Don't include photographs of people whose uniforms are unique to the US. Lots of nations use "woodland" pattern BDUs virtually identical to the US version. But rank insignia, branch insignia, and unit insignia attached to a uniform will identify at a glance that a person is a member of the US armed forces, and that's prohibited. Advertisers can avoid this issue by making photographs for their ads that include ONLY people wearing "sterile" uniforms without insignia or other identification. Existing photos may sometimes be corrected by "Photoshopping" out the prohibited insignia. But you can't easily correct a photo of somebody in USMC dress blues with Photoshop.


2. DoD does not want photographs of "active duty" military personnel to appear in advertising because of the issues described above. That means that all of the free photography on the DoD sites -- and there is a ton of it -- does not comply with the regulations. But there's a problem with this -- there is no way to tell from the photograph itself if the people in the image are members of the military or not.


3. Finally, the regulations indicate that advertisers of products or services related to the US armed forces have all ads reviewed before publication. This requirement has been in force for many years, but very few advertisers bothered because there were no consequences if they didn't. DoD attorneys are now sending letters to advertisers who don't comply with the regulations, either the content or the review process. You can have your ad promptly reviewed by sending it in PDF form as an email attachment to pareview@osd.mil

The nice lady at the Pentagon who is now responsible for all this is Ms Adrien Starks and her contact information is:

Adrien F. C. Starks
Chief, Civic Outreach Team
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)/
Community Relations
The Pentagon, Rm. 2D982
Washington, D.C. 20301-1400
Office: 703-695-6290
DSN: 225-6290
Blackberry: 571-345-8610
Fax: 703-697-2577

The regulations themselves are summarized at this DoD link:
http://www.defenseimagery.mil/products/dodimagery/commercialuse.html