By Ian Werther in News — 13 Mar 2026

White House posts pop-culture war video on Iran, drawing criticism over civilian casualties

The White House posted a 52-second video on X on the 12th local time that depicts a potential war with Iran through a mashup of popular culture, including scenes from Iron Man, Superman, SpongeBob SquarePants, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon, and Grand Theft Auto. The clip, tied to an operation named Epic Fury and using visuals from Nintendo’s Wii, carries the banner UNDEFEATED as it presents a military-first storyline.

The video intercuts sports sequences with war imagery. A golfer’s good shot is followed by a scene of an American airstrike on Iran, with the caption Hole in One. In bowling, a strike similarly leads to an Iranian bombing sequence. Similar transitions appear in other scoring moments from baseball and basketball, all framed as U.S. military success against Iran.

Iran’s Musa Bay (خور موسی) on the northern end of the Persian Gulf is pictured in this image from the Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite on 13 January 2017.
Near the centre, we can see the port city of Bandar Imam Khomeini, situated at the terminus of the Trans-Iranian Railway – a route that links the Persian Gulf with Iran’s capital, Tehran.
The dark area to the right of the port is Musa Bay, a shallow estuary. The large geometric structures along the top appear to be evaporation ponds for extracting naturally occurring minerals from the ground.
The left side of the image is dominated by the marshes and mudflats of the Shadegan wildlife refuge. It is the largest wetland in Iran, and plays a significant role in the natural ecology of the area.
The area provides a wintering habitat for a wide variety of migratory birds, and is the most important site in the world for a rare species of aquatic bird: the marbled duck. The northern part of the wetland is a vital freshwater habitat for many endangered species.
This area is considered a wetland of international importance by the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental treaty for the sustainable use of wetlands.
World Wetlands Day is observed every year on 2 February.

This image is featured on the Earth from Space video programme. — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: CC BY-SA 3.0 igo. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

NBC News criticized the approach, arguing that portraying the war in terms of a video-game or sports fantasy risks downplaying real casualties. The reporting highlighted perceptions that civilian deaths in Iran and injuries to service members risk being treated as mere entertainment.

The White House defended the project as a response to contemporary meme culture, arguing that using trending content is a legitimate tool for outreach. Spokesperson Caroline Leavitt said the video had drawn more than 2 billion views in recent days and claimed it reflected popular sentiment about a swift U.S. victory against Iranian extremists.

Critics have also pointed to other high-profile moments during the war, such as former President Trump golfing amid ongoing hostilities and Ivanka Trump shopping with Secret Service agents in a viral video, as part of the broader critique that leadership messages are mixing entertainment with wartime realities.

Bottom view of the iwan at one of the entrances at Fatima Masumeh Shrine, Qom, Iran. this picture merged from 25 pictures. 5 frames and each frame contain 5 pictures with 5 levels of exposure. HDR + Panorama — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The video’s release comes as the United States and Iran remain in conflict since the war began on the 28th of last month, according to the report. For U.S. audiences, the episode underscores how the administration is using digital and pop-cultural tools to frame foreign-policy actions, with potential implications for public opinion, political messaging, and the perception of U.S. military operations abroad.

Beyond Korea, the episode matters for global audiences because it illustrates how U.S. messaging can influence alliance perceptions, markets, and security calculations. The use of widely recognized franchises aims to mobilize attention and shape the narrative around a high-stakes security confrontation, a factor that can affect investment sentiment, supply-chain risk assessments, and policy debates in the United States and among international partners.

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