US Army Uses an Alleged Lana Del Rey Quote to Recruit Soldiers
Music

US Army Uses an Alleged Lana Del Rey Quote to Recruit Soldiers

Does Lana Del Rey approve this message?

In what can only be called an extremely puzzling attempt at recruiting new soldiers, the US Army took to Twitter over the weekend to post a photo of a female soldier crawling through the mud alongside an "inspirational" quote supposedly said by the "Born to Die" singer.

“‘Being brave means knowing that when you fail, you don’t fail forever, -Lana Del Rey,'" the account wrote, subsequently sending the internet into a tailspin over the extremely odd post.

"Let's check in on the world's premier military power," as one person wrote, seemingly in reference to Del Rey's reputation as the patron saint of depressed girls and gays.

Another fan tweeted, "The army subliminally recruiting Born To Die girlies," before a third quipped, "they got a gay intern working the US army twitter account."

Meanwhile, musician Lucy Dacus spoke for all of us by saying, "I would like to thank this post for convincing me to get a lobotomy."

Granted, a good number of stans were also appalled by the army's tweet, saying that despite Del Rey's love of Americana imagery, she "not only never said these words, but also refused to promote military recruitment and canceled a whole high budget music video you were supposed to sponsor."

Not only that, but the claim was backed up by director Dylan Park, who said he was supposed to make an Armed Forces-inspired music video for the star a few years ago, meaning that the US Army itself had to get involved by sponsoring the production and loaning her some of the equipment. And apparently, it was all going along as planned until the Army tried to use the video for their own purposes.

"The theme was WWII to present-day military Americana. Like some Marilyn Monroe USO shit," he alleged. "The Army was going to finance it. Tanks, helicopters, the works. But Army wanted to use the video for recruiting and LDR said fuck that.”

That said, Del Rey herself has yet to comment and/or corroborate any of the claims.

Photo via Getty / Jason Kempin

Fashion

Coolest Person in the Room: Jacques Agbobly

Story by Andrew Nguyen / Photography by Diego Villagra Motta