Inside the Army’s failed $11 million take care of The Rock

Earlier this year, the Army signed a deal with the United Football League, the minor league football league in the U.S. that Johnson co-owns. The deal said Johnson would also serve as a brand ambassador for the Army. But the Army said he fell short on his end of the deal by not publishing enough service-related posts to his social media accounts, according to internal emails and documents reviewed by Military.com.

Now, the Army is in negotiations with the UFL to review and finalize the details of the partnership, which Military.com says was “so catastrophic” it led to a projected loss of 38 enlistments, according to an internal review of the plan reviewed by the publication. The Army, however, says it’s too early to decipher the effects of the campaign. 

“We won’t have a clear view of the results of the partnership or impacts to the Army’s financial investment until all marketing elements are complete,” an Army spokesperson told Fortune. These marketing elements include Army branding on UFL player uniforms and fields, “activations” during the championship game, and high school clinics. 

“This partnership allowed the Army to increase awareness and engage with a wider audience for Americans to learn about the possibilities of Army services,” the spokesperson said. 

Why the deal went south

The Army didn’t really know exactly what it was getting when it inked a deal with Johnson and the UFL. While “on its surface, the Army’s attempt to enter into a partnership with The Rock seems like a can’t-miss opportunity,” the opportunity isn’t really what they thought it would be,” Megan Sweeney, a former senior adviser for communications at the U.S. Department of Defense, told Fortune. 

“While the Army may have thought they were getting The Rock, they were instead primarily getting a partnership with a minor football league,” Sweeney said. “The Rock is an investor of the UFL, but it’s not like he’s on the sidelines of every game. As a result, the Army seems to have paid Hollywood-level sponsorship money for minor-league exposure.”

The true appeal of the deal the Army thought it was getting was Johnson’s social-media reach; he has 396 million followers on Instagram. The Army had valued each social media post at $1 million, according to documents obtained by Military.com, but Johnson had only made two of the five promised posts. 

“In the Army’s defense, they allegedly did not receive the level of social media exposure they were promised by The Rock’s team,” Sweeney said. “It may have cost the Army millions, but this incident will certainly damage Rock’s reputation as a brand ambassador without a further explanation on his end.” The UFL did not respond to Fortune’s requests for comment.

To that end, it appears as if the failed deal isn’t necessarily due to a mismatch in brand appeal, but rather unfinished business.

“Some of the problems here seem to be contractual rather than tactical,” Jenn Szekely, president of global branding and design consultancy Coley Porter Bell, told Fortune. “If [Johnson] hasn’t delivered what was promised, that’s a failing of the deal, not the brand proposition. It’s not just about signing a name, it’s about execution.”

However, the problem with the deal could be larger than just tying up a few loose ends. The Army needs young recruits, yet only 23% of Gen Z say they’re passionate about sports, according to a 2021 Fandom Analytics Initiative survey of nearly 1,400 people.

“While The Rock is a huge star with gravitas and status, the UFL is a relatively new entity,” Szekely said. (The UFL just started play in March 2024). “On top of that, we know a large portion of Gen Z doesn’t even care about sports, so the UFL as the center of gravity for the campaign was not necessarily the winning strategy.”

The Army told Military.com it’s working with the UFL to “rebalance the contract,” and “The Rock remains a good partner to the Army.” Yet, it also said “it’s unfortunate he was pulled away at a time when we expected him to be present with us to create content for his social media channels.”

Situations like these are a case for rock-solid contracts for brand ambassadorships, experts said.

“It’s important to include provisions in brand ambassador contracts that protect both parties in the event one side decides to desert their responsibilities,” Sweeney said.