The Trump admin is so toxic, brands now have crisis responses for being used in propaganda

One of toy company Hasbro’s marquee pieces of intellectual property went through a different transformation than usual last week. Thanks to a series of social media posts by the Department of Homeland Security, Transformers, the venerable robots-disguised-as-trucks franchise, got a full-on MAGA makeover. In one entry, the series’ most recognizable character, Optimus Prime, is covered in DHS logos for an AI poster promoting the nonexistent blockbuster, Transformers: Age of Deportation. Hasbro quickly responded with an Instagram message disavowing the brazen copyright infringement, but it didn’t stop there. The company also listed the values Optimus Prime stands for—suggesting these are in conflict with the ideas expressed by the DHS slopaganda. It’s not every day a toy company has to announce that the fictional robot truck it created—unlike the U.S. government, apparently—believes in things like leadership and justice. View this post on Instagram If the statement seems familiar, it’s because a near-identical one emerged just a week earlier. After the White House launched a jingoist retro online arcade featuring a Tetris knockoff called “Build the Wall,” the company behind the class…