Thomas: The Trump administration is selling the war very differently from past conflicts. If you follow the White House on Twitter, you will notice the shift immediately.
They are bragging about how many people they’re killing. They’re puttingtogether hype videos that are clips of video games and action movies, interspliced with actual footage from the battlefield of things getting blown up and of people getting killed.
Jonathan: This is a glory approach. We are winning. There are no apologies for killing the bad guys. In fact, there is celebration for killing the badguys.
They even released what looked like a kill-streak video. In Call of Duty, the video game, you unlock weapons and abilities depending on how many enemies you kill in one life. Kill three enemies and you get a care package. Kill seven and you unlock a predator drone. The more enemies you kill, the more powerful the reward becomes.
The White House released a video styled like a kill streak.
Thomas: The White House. The government released the kill-streak video.
Jonathan: Yes, the government released it.
Thomas: That detail matters. Some people are deeply offended by this approach, while others are not offended at all.
I experienced an example of this recently. I bought an elliptical on Facebook Marketplace, because I am apparently a high roller. The seller’s teenage son helped load it into my dad’s truck. During the conversation, the war came up. He immediately said he wanted to join the Air Force and fly an F-15. He was excited about it. He was ready to sign up.
That reaction illustrates the point. If you want to win a war, who do you need to persuade? Do you persuade older women and older men who aren’t eligible to fight? Or do you persuade the young men who actually fight the wars?
The messaging clearly targets young men. The music, the references, and the visuals are designed for them. In marketing terms, the audience is clear.
Jonathan: My dad served during Desert Storm, the first Gulf War. The United States overwhelmed the Iraqi military. The technology gap was enormous. You can watch documentaries on Amazon Prime showing American tanks rolling over Iraqi forces.
The victory happened so quickly and decisively that it shaped that generation of soldiers. Many of them remained strongly patriotic afterward.
When I served between 2012 and 2017, we were near the end of Afghanistan and early in the fight against ISIS. We destroyed a lot of ISIS equipment and personnel, but the experience was not as broadly shared across the entire military. On the watch floor we were blowing up bad guys, but the national atmosphere was different.
Thomas: The phrase “blowing up bad guys” almost felt controversial in the previous cultural moment. The messaging was more restrained. The emphasis was on precision and minimizing harm.
Jonathan: Exactly. The word everyone used was “precision.” The idea was that strikes targeted only the one specific enemy. That’s why Obama could do all the strikes he was doing across the world (a lot of times illegally) because he was selling it as precision.
Thomas: And those strikes were rarely reported. Many people still do not know how extensive that drone program was. At one point a senator conducted a 13-hour filibuster simply to get the press to cover it because Obama was drone striking American citizens, killing them from the air without a warrant, without a trial.
Jonathan: Which is wildly illegal.
Thomas: Yet most people barely discussed it. Some listeners may even be hearing this and thinking it cannot possibly be true.
The larger point is about marketing. Understanding who you are selling to shapes your message.
There will always be people who oppose Trump regardless of what he does. His strategy appears to be to ignore those audiences and focus on young men. The message is clear: victory, glory, and success in battle.
That appeal has worked on young men for thousands of years. The Roman Republic used a similar strategy. Young Romans bought their own armor and horses because they wanted glory in battle.
Today, however, glory is rarely emphasized in modern fiction.
The more common narrative is reluctant heroism. The protagonist did not want to become a hero but was forced into it. That grim, reluctant model dominated recent storytelling, but young male audiences are increasingly rejecting that framework. They want characters who seek victory and embrace glory.
They want heroes who win.
Jonathan:. They want heroes who overcome enemies and achieve victory through strength and determination.
Thomas: And they are not apologizing for it. The tone is confident and direct. The message is simple: we destroyed the enemy ship, and everyone aboard died.
Jonathan: Victory matters.
Thomas: And this connects to publishing trends. Many current bestselling genres are cozy fantasy or cozy mystery. Those markets are dominated by female readers.
That market is well understood. The data proves it works.
Jonathan: But at the same time, a large male audience remains underserved.
Consider the recent release of Doom: The Dark Ages. Earlier Doom games included “glory kills.” After damaging a demon, the player could trigger a brutal finishing move that restored health and resources. The mechanic was fast, violent, and exciting. Players loved it.
The new game removed glory kills because developers felt they were too aggressive. Fans immediately questioned the decision.
It is Doom. The entire premise is destroying demons.
Thomas: When you try to soften a violent action game to appeal to people who dislike violence, you usually fail. The original audience loses interest, and the new audience still does not want the product.
Some listeners may already feel uncomfortable hearing us describe the game. My wife hates it.
Jonathan: My wife does too. She asks why I play it.
Thomas: That is the point. Not every product needs to appeal to everyone.
Trying to make romance novels appeal to men usually fails. Instead, make the romance better for the women who already love it.
Jonathan: But if you want to reach an underserved audience right now, male readers represent a major opportunity. Stories centered on glory, victory, and overcoming powerful enemies resonate strongly with them.
Thomas: The victory must be earned. Glory cannot be handed out like a participation trophy. It must come through hardship, sacrifice, and effort.
Part of the excitement surrounding recent military events comes from long anticipation. Some weapons systems have existed for decades without seeing real combat.
Jonathan: We built incredible technology and have rarely seen it used.
Thomas: The broader lesson for authors is about audience alignment. This opportunity may not apply to everyone. If you write cozy romance, stay in that market, but if you have been pressured by editors to soften your story, reduce aggression, or remove masculine themes in order to make it more marketable, reconsider that advice.
Independent publishing allows you to target your real audience directly.
Jonathan: Also remember that mixed audiences exist. Some female readers enjoy characters pursuing glory. Think of Troy. Achilles, played by Brad Pitt, pursued eternal glory. Hector, played by Eric Bana, represented family duty and loyalty.
Different viewers preferred different heroes.
Thomas: That approach works well in storytelling. If you want to appeal to different audiences, give them different characters. Films do this frequently.
In the Marvel films, some viewers prefer Iron Man. Others prefer Captain America. Each character embodies a different set of values.
That contrast creates discussion. One reader may hate a character that another reader loves. That disagreement generates conversation.
Jonathan: And from an SEO standpoint, arguments about a book are extremely valuable.
Thomas: People dislike feeling left out of a conversation. The classic example is the love triangle. Think “Team Edward” versus “Team Jacob.” That structure naturally divides readers and fuels discussion.
Different characters can appeal to different readers, which gives your story more room to breathe.
For genres such as thrillers, action, fantasy, and science fiction, this dynamic can work extremely well.
I will be exploring this topic in more detail in a future Zeitgeist episode of Novel Marketing. One of the questions we will address is why Asian storytelling, particularly manga, has become so dominant.
If you visit Barnes & Noble today, the largest section is often the manga section. Western readers clearly enjoy these stories.
The reason is not that readers suddenly want Eastern culture. Readers still want Western-style storytelling. But Eastern creators are currently delivering elements that Western stories often avoid, including glory.
That is one of the themes we will examine more deeply in the upcoming episode.
