American pop culture icons keep their distance from Trump administration deportation aura farming

The White House in just one week has been forced to walk back two controversial marketing schemes for its immigration policy following backlash from companies that didn’t want their intellectual property associated with mass deportations.WASHINGTON (CN) — In what’s become a repeat episode under the second Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday deleted some controversial social media posts in which it portrayed a pop culture figure as a supporter of mass deportations.It’s the second time in less than a week in which the Trump White House, underwater in public opinion polling on its immigration policy, has had to walk back marketing material designed to hype up deportation operations using content aimed at children and cribbed from companies who have subsequently distanced themselves from the administration.The Trump administration has repeatedly courted controversy over the last year with its artificial intelligence-heavy approach to social media promotion. Homeland Security in particular has come under scrutiny for its use of pop culture — and occasionally language associated with white nationalist ideology — as it markets the president’s mass deportation agenda to the American public.And DHS this week found itself on the wrong side of toymaker Hasbro for its use of Transformers character Optimus Prime in promotional material for an administration crackdown on immigrant truck drivers.In several social media posts, the agency used AI to create renditions of Transformers movie posters, depicting Prime emblazoned with the logos of DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One such image showed the iconic character faced off against Harjinder Singh, an Indian man who is accused of killing three people on a Florida highway last year while driving a big rig. DHS has said he was granted a commercial driver’s license from California despite being in the country illegally.In a statement Thursday, Hasbro said it was aware of the posts featuring Optimus Prime and that they were made without the company’s permission. The content, it added, did not “represent the Transformers brand or Hasbro.”“Optimus Prime is a beloved character who represents humility, leadership, compassion and justice,” the Hasbro statement read.Asked whether the toy company had reached out the DHS asking it to remove the social media posts, a spokesperson for the agency called the line of questioning “nonsensical drivel,” adding Singh “should never have been in our country.” Attached to the agency’s comment was an image of Singh alongside the logo of the Decepticons — the antagonist faction in the Transformers franchise.“Perhaps Courthouse News Service should spend the same amount of time researching their stories as they do wringing their hands in faux outrage,” the DHS spokesperson said. “Freedom from illegal alien crime is the right of all Americans.”But it’s not the first time in recent days the Trump administration has recanted in the face of U.S. companies chafing at unauthorized association with its immigration policy. The White House this week quietly removed a Tetris-inspired video game from its official website following a copyright threat from the developers of the classic block-stacking title.The Trump administration’s Tetris clone, published last week alongside a handful of other internet browser games designed to promote the president’s agenda, was titled “Build the Wall” and tasked players with using Tetris blocks to keep out a “zombie border siege.”In a statement this past Friday, the Las Vegas-based Tetris Company similarly informed its audience that it was not involved with the White House’s rendition of its game and stepped away from the parody’s anti-immigrant overtones.“At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,” the company said at the time. “To our fans everywhere; we love you, we see you and we’re grateful to have you in our community.”And the Tetris Company suggested it would take the Trump administration to task for using its intellectual property, writing that it took “copyright infringement” seriously. It’s unclear whether the White House removed its Tetris clone under a cease and desist or some other copyright action.The Trump administration’s pop culture-infused marketing strategy has repeatedly drawn criticism and occasionally the ire of the figures invoked in social media posts.At the beginning of the Iran war, the White House faced pushback for its use of footage from the video game franchise Call of Duty in videos of real-world strikes on Iranian military targets. And Homeland Security clashed with racing series IndyCar over images of its race cars used to advertise an immigration detention facility in Indiana.The recent backlash comes as polling data suggests a majority of Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s record on immigration. A Quinnipiac poll conducted last week showed that roughly 57% of respondents were opposed to the administration’s immigration policy.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads