The body
The White House has faced backlash after publishing social media promotion videos for its war with Iran that mix real combat imagery with widely recognized entertainment references, including movie action scenes, video game footage and sports highlights. The Associated Press reported that the videos cut together declassified-looking combat material with clips and icons from pop culture in quick, high-energy sequences aimed at holding attention.
Among the entertainment elements cited in the reporting were clips and characters associated with “Braveheart,” “Superman,” “Top Gun,” “Breaking Bad” and “Iron Man,” along with gaming footage and sports moments such as American football tackles and baseball home runs. The videos also incorporated music and fast-cut visual motifs drawn from gaming culture, according to the Associated Press description of the posts, including references that the reporting characterized as “gaming footage” and “bone-crunching football tackles.”
Two performers whose work appeared in the videos criticized the use and said it was done without permission. Ben Stiller, who starred in the 2008 movie “Tropic Thunder,” said he had no interest in being part of what he described as political propaganda, adding: “War is not a movie.” Steve Downes, who portrays Master Chief in the video game “Halo,” called the videos “disgusting and juvenile war porn.”
The concerns extended beyond entertainers into the U.S. Catholic Church, where Cardinal Blase J. Cupich said the posts treated a war with real death and suffering as if it were entertainment. In a weekend statement, Cupich said: “Our government is treating the suffering of the Iranian people as a backdrop for our own entertainment, as if it’s just another piece of content to be swiped through while we’re waiting in line at the grocery store,” adding that, “But, in the end, we lose our humanity when we are thrilled by the destructive power of our military.”
The Associated Press reported that when asked about the videos, the White House would not say whether it would accommodate artists who said their work was used without permission. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in response that “America’s heroic warfighters are meeting or surpassing all of their goals under Operation Epic Fury,” and she said the White House would not apologize for highlighting military activity.
Kelly also said, “The legacy media wants us to apologize for highlighting the United States Military’s incredible success, but the White House will continue showcasing the many examples of Iran’s ballistic missiles, production facilities, and dreams of owning a nuclear weapon being destroyed in real time.” Neither the NFL nor Major League Baseball was reported to have commented on the use of league footage in the videos.
The AP report also described the administration’s broader use of gaming and meme-style imagery in previous posts. It said the White House last year posted an image of Trump dressed as Master Chief and another depicting him as a blocky “Minecraft” character, with a caption that the reporting characterized as emphasizing his gamer persona.
Analysts cited in the report described a possible psychological strategy for wartime messaging that uses the familiarity of games and sports to make the administration’s message more compelling to audiences. Zia Haque, director of the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College, said “We live in a digital age, and I see this as a use of the space to propagate the message across the board,” according to the Associated Press.
The report also raised the question of whether the content could be seen as recruitment-adjacent, comparing it to earlier Defense Department efforts to engage video game communities and esports. It cited Ray Deptula, a retired U.S. Navy commander who said young men may seek the military because they want to be “cool like the people they see in action movies,” while warning about a disconnect between that appeal and the reality of service.
Jeff Fromm, co-author of “Marketing to Gen Z,” said he had doubts about the videos’ long-term effectiveness, with the Associated Press reporting his view that many in Generation Z want more transparency and look for values they can verify in the organizations they consider joining.