CIA’s rebrand likened to that of a millennial pop-up shop

CIA Director Gina Haspel, who became the agency’s first female director in May 2018, tells the Associated Press that she hopes the new website will give potential recruits a sense of the “dynamic environment that awaits them here. We’ve come a long way since I applied by simply mailing a letter marked ‘CIA, Washington, D.C.,’” Haspel told the AP.

Since Haspel became CIA director, recruitment has become a key priority, and the CIA has started advertising on streaming services and launched an Instagram account, according to the AP. The agency’s first executive Hispanic engagement was assigned last year. The CIA still lags in its number of minority employees—26.5% compared to 37% in the federal workforce and 37.4% in the civilian workforce.

Many Twitter users, though, concluded that such an obvious appeal to younger and more diverse candidates is a little heavy-handed for such a storied organization.

Zachary Roif, creative director at advertising agency R/GA, compares the new design to that of an independent ad agency. “It’s hysterical to think about these archaic institutions rebranding as a millennial DTC brand or ad agency,” says Roif. “It’s a painfully common and trendy visual language they’ve chosen which is sort of the opposite of what you expect from a governmental institution.”