In his most-watched non-Shorts YouTube video, Ben Azelart breaks 100 rules in 24 hours. That act suggests that the 21-year-old is in need of some discipline, so he turned to the U.S. military to straighten himself out. In a recent collab with the Army, Azelart and his buddy Cam Huff took on basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.
Azelart framed his Army collab as a fitness test to see if influencers can achieve a military level of fitness. After crawling through trenches, climbing up walls, and tackling a night vision course, Azelart got his answer: He’s got some skills, but it will be a minute before he graduates.
To wrap up his video, Azelart attended an Army graduation ceremony, where a soldier spoke about the personal transformation he underwent during his time in basic training. If that sounds like an ad for the U.S. military, it’s because it is. In the description of his video, Azelart includes a link to an Army recruitment page.
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Collaborating with a top creator is a savvy move for the U.S. Army, which has run into trouble on major platforms due to its links to recruitment portals. Working with Azelart keeps those click-throughs above board, though I’m not expecting the TikTok standout to enlist any time soon.
Even if Azelart doesn’t go to basic training for real, he is reaping some benefits from his team-up with America’s armed forces. A cut-down version of his collab made its way to YouTube Shorts, where it has picked up 25 million views in less than a month.
Azelart, bolstered by that big viewership, has reached some major milestones on YouTube. His primary channel has now collected more than four billion lifetime views, and it is nearing 21 million subscribers as well. Azelart can grow his channel even more, but he’ll have to find more fears to overcome first.
