The first global meme war is over. America lost

Welcome to the age of state-sponsored s**tposting, where culture wars are no longer won by tanks, speeches, or movie studios

Culture wars will never be the same again. 

Military narratives are often promoted through entertainment and popular culture. Typically, this is done by newspapers, film studios, or influencers who support one side of a conflict in exchange for payment and/or political favor. 

For example, ‘Top Gun’ is a pretty universally beloved film. However, its creators openly admit that they collaborated closely with the US Air Force, essentially producing propaganda content. It’s also common for well-known musicians and comedians to perform on military bases. 

The US-Iran conflict has taken cultural warfare to a whole new level, however. For the first time ever, official government agencies have started speaking not just in populist rhetoric but in memes. And suddenly, one of the most populist governments in the world found itself losing the cultural battle to one of the world’s most conservative and unpopular regimes. 

Search and destroy with Lego animations

Before the war in Iran, the Trump administration sometimes resorted to memes – but not when it came to discussing conflicts. The first shift occurred after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, when Trump posted a video featuring American bombers set to the song ‘Bomb Iran’. 

Some viewers liked the video, and the Trump administration understood that this format was effective for engaging the audience. Shortly after the first American strikes against Iran in March, the official White House account on X shared a video of bombings set to a remix of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’.

STRIKE.