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From Lego to GTA: How Iran and US Are Using Pop Culture to Fight the Propaganda War
Iran’s state-run institute released a two-minute animation depicting US-Israeli attacks and commemorating students killed in Minab, shared widely on social media platforms.
- Iran's state-run Revayat-e Fath institute released a two-minute, Lego-style animation depicting retaliatory attacks against US and Israeli interests, featuring toy renditions of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launching missiles after viewing an "Epstein file."
- The animation references the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Iran, where officials claim at least 175 people were killed; Unesco condemned the strike as a "grave violation of humanitarian law."
- Retaliation scenes show Lego Iranian officials destroying a British military base in Cyprus and the American Embassy in Saudi Arabia, mirroring real-world drone strikes in state-sponsored propaganda.
- The White House has similarly utilized pop culture for its own propaganda, splicing real strike footage with clips from Grand Theft Auto, which White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended, stating, "Under the decisive leadership of President Trump, America."
- Experts warn that using gaming imagery like the "wasted" screen from Grand Theft Auto risks desensitizing viewers to real violence, and Actor Stiller demanded removal of a Tropic Thunder clip, stating, "We never gave you permission.
21 Articles
21 Articles
This is not the first time Iran has tried to unite the nation through propaganda videos, the researcher believes. But the Lego-like figures are new.
From Lego to GTA: How Iran and US are using pop culture to fight the propaganda war
Like a disturbing Lego Movie version of Team America: World Police, a clip posted by Iranian state media is just one example of information warfare between Tehran and Washington. Bryony Gooch reports
Iran creates a video in the Lego style to enter the propaganda war against the United States and Israel and condemn attacks on the country. Israel issued a new evacuation order for southern Beirut.
In the fog of the war, communication counts almost as much as missiles, drones and bombs. Iran on one side, Israel and the United States on the other, broadcast images every day. Some are real, some are fictional or video game, i.e. propaganda. In Iran, the Internet is totally blocked. Only state television continues to broadcast its story of the war. The Israeli army also publishes images of its operations. (International).
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- 66% of the sources lean Right
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