I have a difficult time with U.S. Army ads. Whenever I see the one minute ads with that familiar inspirational music, yellow video game-y typeface, and images of "soldiers" from all walks of life, I am admittedly inspired. They really get you. Hook line and sinker. After a couple seconds I snap back to reality and begin to assess and analyze the commercial.
I think army commercials are exactly the kind of consciousness and false consciousness Marx addresses. First, the slogan of the army is "There's strong. And then there's army strong." This essentially says yeah, you could be the physical equivalent to an Iron Man and as intelligent as Einstein, but unless you've gone to boot camp and been shipped off to Afghanistan, you're sort of eh. This plays actually plays into the hegemonic views of male strength and power, the same way that the notion of ideal thinness works for women. "There's thin. And then there's girlfriend material thin." The ad then shows different scenes and examples of army work and life, but portrayed the same way Gossip Girl displays Manhattan. I tallied up all of the different scenes: a guy on a tarmac, three guys in tall grass, a guy (with a Hispanic accent) poking his head out of a tank, rows of men standing in formation outside of Harvard-esque buildings, a probable army vet (over 50) with Washington D.C. behind him, a black woman in an operating room, four men on horses holding flags, a NASA employee, a guy outside of a boxing ring, a bunch of dudes jupming out of cool army tanks and planes, a firefighter, and a scuba diver. Really? If this is what the army's like sign me up!
The consciousness associated with army ads is America's unique patriotism. The combination of our history as a nation doesn't go that far back, the fact that there are members from every culture in America, and that we are democratic and try to fight and help countries that don't have that luxury are all part of the equation.
The false consciousness is that the army targets their ads at teenage men who don't have many financial options and opportunities beyond high school and feel like they are stuck in their hometowns. The ads appeal to their natural sensibilities to fight and defend and "make a difference." Also, the army plays up the fact that these young men will be a part of something bigger than them. Unfortunately, these young men don't realize that they will probably be put in the front lines, in war-torn countries, for months and years at a time. Also, when (and if) they return to the U.S., often they don't receive the support mentally, financially and emotional to function in normal life.
Because many of these teenage boys are not aware of the ramifications of joining the army, and are duped by the government without realizing, this is false consciousness.

link to the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq-ZVIZJaI8