CIA Inspires Cringe, Political Debate, And Conspiracy Theories With 'Woke' Ad

The CIA, which is not a particularly popular branch of the American government after it allegedly introduced cheap cocaine into Los Angeles, overthrew several Latin American governments and participated in multiple unsavory international affairs, is attempting to advertise its commitment to diversity through a series of ads showcasing the various Humans of the CIA. It is not being received very well.

While the ads have been on YouTube for several months, it wasn't until a recent tweet by the Central Intelligence Agency that they began seeing significant pushback. The ad shows Mija, a Latina employee of the CIA who drops several academic buzzwords and phrases while talking about her life's journey into the CIA. "I refused to internalize misguided, patriarchal ideas of what a woman can and should be," she says. "I am tired of feeling like I'm supposed to apologize for the space I occupy."

#WednesdayWisdom

"I am unapologetically me. I want you to be unapologetically you, whoever you are. Whether you work at #CIA, or anywhere else in the world.

Command your space. Mija, you are worth it."

— CIA (@CIA) April 28, 2021

The full, 2:20 cut of the ad finds Mija using much more buzzy, "discourse"-y language in describing herself. According to her words, she has a generalized anxiety disorder. She's intersectional. She's cisgender. "But my existence is not a box-checking exercise," she notes.

As the clip started going around Twitter, users were agog at the flurry of buzzwords Mija used in the ad, interpreting the ad as the CIA attempting to appeal to the college-educated crowd while hiding its troubled history.

this is a video made by the CIA as part of their recruitment drive. look at the language used, and the t-shirt she's wearing: a literal raised fist. you can't make this shit up. they are coopting what was supposed to be an emancipatory language to enact mass murder and torture pic.twitter.com/ljMsZhBpSP

— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) May 1, 2021

Violate peoples human rights but make it "intersectional", that's the message of this CIA recruitment video. https://t.co/SXPTiEk8mq

— oliver merino (@olivermerino4) May 3, 2021

They actually did the meme https://t.co/TVe1xjDxZf pic.twitter.com/oi6U9SJodp

— Makasi Motema (@MakasiMotema) May 2, 2021

Others took it as evidence that left-wing politics had failed.

Actual quotes from this new CIA recruitment ad:

"I am a woman of color"

"I am a cisgender millennial"

"I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder"

"I am intersectional"

I think it's safe to say the contemporary American left has failed.pic.twitter.com/ruUzWSeIur

— Aisha Ahmad (@aishaismad) May 2, 2021

The really telling thing about this video os that it speaks to the CIA's assessment of who would be interested in working for them. Clearly, they think they have appeal to woke millenials – and they're probably right. https://t.co/1hGuVRuE7B

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) May 3, 2021

Others still believed it was some sort of psyop to eradicate conservatives.

Watch this insane CIA recruitment video & tell me the CIA isn’t a woke swamp creature… capable & willing to weaponize their power to target their political opponents: conservatives.

pic.twitter.com/bWetFFSKeV

— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) May 3, 2021

China and Russia love this. https://t.co/YGI5AEsO3w

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 3, 2021

So, in sum, the Left hates the ad because it's pandering to the left, the Right hates it because they see it as the CIA threatening conservativism, and everyone not politically involved thinks it's cringeworthy. To use another academic buzzword to describe the CIA's video, it is an epic fail.