Propaganda is produced by all sides in war. But the images and slogans roaring across social media in this first month of the war in Iran may be something new.
The Trump White House has posted videos online that weave real images of missile strikes and destruction with clips from video games, sports, and action movies.
A White House post to social media shows real air strikes in Iran accompanied by the soundtrack and snippets from the Call of Duty video game. Another splices real combat videos between home runs and slam dunks from Wii Sports. Others show explosion footage, accompanied by clips poached from Top Gun, SpongeBob, Braveheart, and the series Breaking Bad, where a character shouts, "I AM the danger!"
Meanwhile, Iranian state media puts out Lego-style war animations: minifigure versions of President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, plotting; Iranian commanders mashing launch buttons; soldiers and civilians running from fiery wreckage in animated versions of Israel, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Chicago's Cardinal Blaise Cupich issued a statement after seeing White House videos, saying "A real war with real death and real suffering being treated like it's a video game — it's sickening." He warned that videos like these can make us "addicted to the 'spectacle' of explosions" and put our very humanity at risk.
"The legacy media wants us to apologize for highlighting the United States Military's incredible success," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told a briefing, "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."
But John Vick, who is executive director of Concerned Veterans for America, said in a statement that while the success of the U.S. military should be saluted, "gamifying or making light of war also undermines the sacrifice of the Americans who have died…"
I have covered many U.S. soldiers and fliers in combat. I have heard them swear — plenty— and exult about succeeding in their missions and surviving. But I have never — and I repeat never — heard a soldier or pilot rejoice over the death of an enemy soldier or civilian. They know war too well to see it as a game.
Facts Only
The Trump White House has posted videos online combining real images of missile strikes and destruction in Iran with clips from video games, sports, and action movies.
One White House social media post features real air strikes in Iran accompanied by the soundtrack and snippets from the *Call of Duty* video game.
Another video splices real combat footage between home runs and slam dunks from *Wii Sports*.
Other videos show explosion footage paired with clips from *Top Gun*, *SpongeBob*, *Braveheart*, and *Breaking Bad*.
Iranian state media has produced Lego-style war animations depicting President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Iranian military actions.
Chicago’s Cardinal Blaise Cupich issued a statement criticizing the White House videos, calling them "sickening" and warning they risk desensitizing people to war’s realities.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the videos, stating they showcase U.S. military successes against Iran’s ballistic missiles, production facilities, and nuclear ambitions.
John Vick, executive director of Concerned Veterans for America, stated that while military success should be acknowledged, "gamifying" war undermines the sacrifices of fallen soldiers.
Journalists covering U.S. soldiers in combat report that troops exult in mission success and survival but never celebrate enemy deaths or civilian casualties.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The White House’s use of video game and pop culture imagery to frame military strikes in Iran represents a deliberate attempt to reframe war as spectacle, leveraging emotional and cultural triggers to shape public perception. At its strongest, this narrative could be seen as an effort to celebrate military prowess and rally support by making complex geopolitical actions more digestible to a digital-native audience. However, the pattern of blending real violence with entertainment media risks normalizing war as a form of performance, exploiting the dopamine-driven engagement of social media to override moral reflection.
This tactic aligns with known manipulation patterns, particularly **ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey** (defending a narrow claim—"highlighting military success"—while promoting a broader, more inflammatory one—war as entertainment) and **ARC-0024 Ambiguity** (blurring the line between real and fictional violence to desensitize audiences). The root cause appears to be a paradigm where war is treated as a marketing campaign, prioritizing viral engagement over ethical responsibility. The implications are profound: when war is gamified, human dignity is reduced to a scoreboard, and the psychological distance between action and consequence widens. The beneficiaries are those who profit from conflict—politically, economically, or ideologically—while the costs are borne by soldiers, civilians, and the erosion of public discourse.
Key questions emerge: How does this framing affect the decision-making of those who consume it? What voices—particularly from veterans or affected civilians—are missing from this narrative? Would the tone shift if the footage included the human toll of these strikes?
If this were part of a coordinated influence campaign, the playbook would involve weaponizing nostalgia (e.g., *Top Gun*, *Call of Duty*) to create emotional resonance, then flooding the zone with spectacle to crowd out critical reflection. While the White House’s videos don’t fully match this pattern—they lack the hallmarks of a systematic disinformation operation—they do exploit similar psychological levers, raising concerns about the long-term effects of treating war as content.