'Pride of the Fleet iconic Navy recruitment ad was so successful getting sailors had to end

Singer songwriter Mike Brady might be best known for his footy anthem Up There Cazaly but it's a brutally honest Navy recruitment advertisement that makes him most proud. 

Brady wrote and performed the song for the hugely successful 'Pride of the Fleet' campaign in the early 1980s which held little back about the challenges of life at sea.

'You'll be wet, you'll be homesick and frightened,' Brady sang in the commercial. 'But the pride of the fleet will be you.'

Instead of being deterred by promises of terror, discomfort and loneliness, thousands of Australians were inspired by the advertisement and answered the call.

So many joined up in fact that the Pride of the Fleet campaign was suspended while the Navy dealt with processing all its new recruits.

Before penning Pride of the Fleet, Brady was best known for the 1979 Australian Rules tribute Up There Cazaly, which he still sings before AFL grand finals at the MCG.

The English-born former sheet metal worker began performing age 15, had hits with 1960s pop act MPD Ltd and entertained troops in Vietnam. 

He was responsible for the 'Lucky you're with AAMI' promotion and recorded jingles for airlines, car manufacturers - when Australia still built cars - biscuit maker Arnott's and food canners SPC.     

But it was a commission from the Commonwealth to come up with something punchy that would convince young Australians to join the Navy for which he is most satisfied.  

Brady recalled being invited to the nation's capital to discuss the advertisement with military brass, who said they wanted 'honesty' in the campaign.

'We went to Canberra and met with the Navy people and they said that recruitment was not struggling but they needed a bit of a boost,' he told 3AW this week.

Brady said he had been given an outline of what budding sailors would face in recruit training and what they could expect to experience during a naval career. 

'I had an idea in my head actually even before I left the room,' he said. 'I went back, I said to the Navy people, we've got this idea - it's pretty honest. 

'They said, "we like honesty in the Navy. And I said, it's actually very honest". [They said] Yes, that's what we like. So I played it to them.'

Brady believed it was his writing partner who had come up the 'Pride of the Fleet' catchline but 'you'll be wet, you'll be homesick and frightened' was his contribution.

'And they bought it,' Brady said of his Navy audience. 'It was massively successful. It says a lot about the Australian psyche, don't you reckon?'

The advertisement, which first screened in 1982, opened with a submarine breaching the surface and featured the destroyers HMAS Brisbane and Hobart cutting through the ocean. 

Other footage showed servicemen operating weapons and communication systems, a missile being prepared for launch and a young sailor being winched by helicopter from the sea.

The stirring song continued playing over the top of more casual scenes on board ship and finally a young uniformed man being greeted by his sweetheart at the end of a deployment.  

'Too many people wanted to sign up,' Brady said of the commercial's popularity. 'Where do I sign up to be wet, homesick and frightened?' 

When the Navy posted the male-dominated ad on Facebook five years ago plenty of former servicemen and women admitted it was why they joined. 

'That's the ad that got me,' one wrote. 'That ad got me in' said another. 'That was the ad I joined up with, 26 years ago!' said a third. 

A fourth perhaps summed it up best: 'Run it again, it also got me. I am yet to see a recruitment campaign since that tells the truth.'

On YouTube, commenters have asked why the Navy does not use similar recruitment advertisements today.

'Probably because telling someone these days that "You'll be wet, You'll be homesick and frightened' would be classified as triggering, scary, bullying, off-putting and not conductive to promoting a more gender equal service,' one user responded. 

'Despite telling them they are the pride of the fleet.'