White House meme war comms draw Yu-Gi-Oh criticism

"It has come to our attention that a post on the White House's official X account used footage from the anime series Yu-Gi-Oh! This was made without any authorization from the rights holder. Regarding this matter, no one associated with the manga or anime had any involvement, and no permission was granted for the use of this intellectual property."

"The White House's recent foray into meme culture has seen it publish surreal montages of clips taken from popular films, TV shows, and video games, all mashed together with real US war footage to modernize its defense comms."

The White House created surreal video montages combining clips from popular films, TV shows, and video games with real US military footage to modernize defense communications. A March 6 video titled "JUSTICE THE AMERICAN WAY" featured a one-second clip of Yu-Gi-Oh protagonist Yugi Mutou alongside footage from Top Gun: Maverick, Iron Man, Breaking Bad, and other entertainment properties, concluding with a Mortal Kombat soundbite. The Yu-Gi-Oh franchise responded by publicly stating the clip was used without authorization or permission from rights holders, emphasizing that no one associated with the manga or anime was involved. This social media strategy emerged after the White House began sharing unclassified military footage depicting strikes against Iranian targets.

Read at Theregister