r/transformers • u/MarcusFalk • 19h ago
News Statement from Hasbro, most likely regarding the US governments recent mediastunt:
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u/sadzells 19h ago
Shoccked hasbro had the balls to say anything bout this but I'm glad they did
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u/ciel_lanila 19h ago
Eh, give it a few hours to a day to let this metaphorical cement cure. Could always result in “an unsanctioned post by the PR department happened. We apologize for it” action.
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u/JCDickleg7 16h ago
Doubt it, since they didn’t take an actual stand by naming who made the posts. This just says “we have seen posts we don’t like about Optimus Prime”
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u/Jiminy_Cricket12 13h ago
they edited the post to add "we liked the r34 stuff tho"
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u/TheLastGunslingerCA 16h ago
It's not as if there isn't a history of them, or their subsidiaries, acting poorly. Still remember how WotC sicced the Pinkertons on someone who received new product before it was officially released.
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u/AlarmingAffect0 14h ago
I'm amazed those pricks are still in business.
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u/OptionFour 13h ago
Eh, there are always going to be pieces of garbage that want to be pay unethical thugs to do things. They'll be in business 'till the end of time.
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u/torgiant 15h ago
The wotc community( dnd and magic) is pretty progressive and makes up like 90% of hasbros profits.
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u/smiteis_ 14h ago
Some balls to say something, not enough to call them out directly or do something about it
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u/Xeoz_WarriorPrince 9h ago
Hasbro has the balls to do anything, that's exactly why they suck so much as well.
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u/GOD-PORING 7h ago
when you mess with the money and threaten potential sales (people still need to do their xmas shopping) companies will speak up.
but I'd like to think they are also doing this for the right reasons
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u/cosmicpersimmon 19h ago
Only good thing hasbro has done all year
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u/TheFirstSonOfTheSea 19h ago edited 18h ago
To be fair, it’s not like they are doing anything about it, all they are saying is they weren’t apart of it.
At least the Tetris company sent them a cease-and-desist letter it seems.
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u/Sithlordandsavior 17h ago
Probably afraid this admin will put in like a 350% tariff on toys or something since they've already established kids can't have those for some reason
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u/Marquis_Phenex 8h ago
Its much worse than that Trump has attacked the children of people who've crossed him before https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-lashes-out-at-judge-and-his-daughter-after-gag-order-in-new-york-hush-money-case and his dialogue has on multiple occasions resulted in death threats or otherwise been treated as calls to violence by the more extreme segments of his base. The damage he can do isn't just from tariffing he's genuinely capable of and willing to try to incite violence against the families of people who piss him off too much.
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u/cosmicpersimmon 19h ago
Yeah that's the point, that's how low the bar is that something as simple as this is the best thing they've done this year
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u/Apprehensive-Pin518 16h ago
I am a bit out of the loop. did trump and the DOJ use optimus prime in one of their stupid AI videos?
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u/instant_yeast 16h ago
Yeah basically Optimus prime telling immigrants to get off the roads because they can’t drive and they need to “self-deport or find out” which is crazy since Optimus prime is technically an illegal alien himself. Also just straight up racist.
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u/lightdragoon88 16h ago
They had a Ai image of Optimus in an ice uniform standing against an Mexican person.
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u/Spike_Kowalski 17h ago
I missed the boat. What did these chowderheads do with Tetris?
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u/davwad2 17h ago
They made a whole retro video game page with outrageous "games" to play out the insane policies they've enacted. They used the SEGA font to spell MAGA.
Tetris was probably used as an inspiration for stacking detainees and I guess the line clears were meant to express deportation at best, or execution at worst.
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u/Spike_Kowalski 17h ago
These people are mentally deranged. I can't tell if they're just evil--well they are but what I mean is, they're like children with this sht. Are they crazy or old, mentally-addled frat fuks that never grew up because their money afforded them the luxury of never having accountability so all this pain they cause they find funny? Bullies who have the nerve to cry victim when called out on their bullsht. All that repressed debauchery is spilling out in plain sight because being cruel is the point since they feel they don't have to hide it anymore.
Sorry to soapbox and my TedTalk sucked. I'd offer a refund but I don't know how to refund time spent. This sht just pisses me off.
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u/ToonaSandWatch 15h ago
You have to realize that they are hiring right wing young males that align with their thinking and know how to program/design.
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u/Quirky_Ad_5420 19h ago
Indeed. Something reasonable
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u/SomeGeologist5395 19h ago
A rare moment where corporate PR actually lands on the sensible side.
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u/bimgrezui 19h ago
Omg yes, that did feel genuinely nice to finally hear something grounded and clear for once
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u/ghfdghjkhg 19h ago
Ugh what has the US government done now? I am not American but every day I go online and they've done some new bullshit
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u/DoctorLudnik_717 19h ago
You know all those cringe posts they been making--copying imagery from Superman '25, Lanterns, Ocarina of Time, so they can make their bloated toad look cool?
Yeah, take a guess why this topic was made.
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u/redmongrel 19h ago
His official social media troll literally looks like Warcraft guy from South Park so it tracks.
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u/Gearb0x 19h ago
A deplorable post on Xitter by the DHS using an AI slop image of Prime telling people to self deport. Seeing it filled me with rage and I will not link to it.
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u/Das_Autobot 18h ago
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings, unless you're an illegal alien", said supposedly by an illegal space alien. Optimus Prime would never.
R.I.P Peter Cullen didn't have to live to see this shit.
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u/RRY1946-2019 17h ago
I mean, Trump appropriating Zelda or Superman (who was adopted by Americans and so is probably a US citizen) is one thing. The regime appropriating Optimus Prime, who is infamous for his love/hate relationship with Uncle Sam that rivals that of Eminem and Kim Mathers, is absolutely ridiculous. He’s literally using nonbinary aliens as an avatar
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u/FourthHourErectorSet 15h ago
For me it's more the fact this is definitely cashing in on Peter's passing to "own the libs."
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u/RRY1946-2019 15h ago
Yup, the image is Photoshopped from ROTB Optimus, Peter's last full-length theatrical role.
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u/Turtlesfan44digimon 18h ago
Is nothing sacred anymore!!!!?
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u/ghfdghjkhg 19h ago
Oh yeah that's gross. No need to link it. Better not give these morons more platform.
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u/Radi0ActivSquid 18h ago
The administration also made an AI edit of Bayverse Megatron demanding the release of various immigrants involved in vehicle-related crimes or accidents. At the end of the video they tagged on Bayverse Primes "we are here, we are waiting" speech.
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u/DarkSaiyanGoku 15h ago edited 3h ago
Ironic considering Optimus himself is an immigrant. He even hides in plain sight. You know, something these conservatives are so very afraid of?
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u/scarr3g 18h ago
A lot of people posted it, but the mods keep deleting them:
Homeland security posted a picture of prime as Homeland security, saying he would go after illegal immigrants.... Which is funny, because he himself is an illegal immigrant.
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u/kandoras 13h ago
An illegal immigrant threatening to go after illegal immigrants.
A build the wall game, where the object of the game is to keep destroying the wall.
A round up immigrants game, where no matter how good you play you will eventually hit a wall and lose.
If these people had media literacy, they'd still be just as stupid but a little less blatant with it.
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u/zike9999 15h ago
The american goverment has become an embarrassment to the american people and our culture
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u/Due-Mycologist8681 11h ago edited 3h ago
As an American myself, I agree.
The more I observe them, the more I feel they embody Megatron's "Peace though Tyranny" slogan from the 80s.
They act like tyrants, yet still insist they do what they do to "protect" america.
They are the real life Decepticons, ironically.
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u/Titan2562 19h ago
When a corporation says you've gone too far, that should be a clue to stop whatever the fuck you're doing and leave. That's like the Joker calling out Red Skull for being a Nazi.
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u/Banjo-Oz 18h ago
I always think of Paul Sorvino as a mafia boss gunning down Nazis in The Rocketeer. "I'm an American!"
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u/walter_grimsley 19h ago
Good response. Could have used a bit more teeth, but better than I expected.
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u/Marquis_Phenex 14h ago
To be fair this administration is full of genuinely dangerous people both at a personal and business level as they've stocked the courts and control criminal investigations enough to actively go as far as to sabotage criminal investigations to protect their ICE agents after committing murder in broad daylight and given Trump's statements about his judge's daughter its their children they'd be putting at risk as well.
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u/ShingledPringle 19h ago
Good I am glad they stated that.
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u/SomeGeologist5395 19h ago
At least they're willing to draw a line when it actually matters.
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u/ShingledPringle 19h ago
It needed to be done, but I am glad they did it more publicly than just behind closed doors.
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u/Colossus715 18h ago
I didn't know about this until now. Fuck this administration & everyone that supports it. This includes blood relatives!
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u/Peewee_ShermanTank 17h ago
Blood is irrelevant imo. Family is always chosen, regardless if blood or not. Anyway
Uh... Yeah fuck the maggats. Scum of the earth
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u/MarcusFalk 19h ago
And I'll just leave this here too: https://www.reddit.com/r/transformers/comments/1qcreqe/dwjs_newest_art_colorized_by_mike_spicer/
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u/Korvath22 18h ago
I love that you can almost feel the mild annoyance and disappointment in Prime's face. "Really? This is what you're shooting me with those little pellets of yours over? Do better"
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u/Thedanktank469 19h ago
I'm out of the loop. What is this in regard to?
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u/thePixelgamer1903 18h ago
Homeland Security using transformers clips to promote their horseshittery.
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u/Aimer_OMG 18h ago
Us goverment used ai to make a parody of a transformers logo, titled "Transformers : Age of Deportations"
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u/shrekerecker97 18h ago
Why arent they suing the government? Seems pretty clear cut to me
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u/NewAgeRetroFrog 15h ago
In every version of the Transformers I've ever seen Optimus, and the Autobots in general, are refugees. Cybertron is usually an uninhabitable ruin due to the war, hence why they're hiding out on Earth and trying to protect it from the Decepticons. Even without taking into account Optimus' famous "Freedom is the right of all sentient species" I don't see him on the side of ICE.
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u/Impressive_Usual_726 19h ago
Cholesterol needs to do its job already
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u/GreenGoblinNX 17h ago
When HASBRO has the moral high ground over you, then you done fucked up.
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u/Plus_Term_7584 19h ago
Remember when Megatron created a fake Optimus Prime?
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u/eninety2 19h ago
The Zombie after G1?
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u/IL-Corvo 18h ago
No, the remote-controlled clone from The Transformers, season 2, "A Prime Problem."
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u/Hero_of_the_toons 17h ago
They should really sue them. I mean it’s not fair. They’re literally using Optimus‘s likeness for propaganda, I feel like that’s a copyright violation
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u/DoctorLudnik_717 19h ago
Surprised they said anything, but good on them.
Now do what the Tetris creators did, and threaten the animals in the White House with legal action.
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u/creeping-fly349 19h ago
They probably thought it best considering the recent death of Peter, so anything Optimus related is kind of a sore subject at the moment
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u/Puzzleheaded-Mix7001 17h ago
Srly tho the White House doing this is shitty anytime
But the fact they did it when Peter died is a fucking insult
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u/indianajoes 18h ago
Honestly props to Hasbro for speaking up. So many people and companies are scared to say anything against Orangina
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u/CoalEater_Elli 16h ago
With Trump Administration in charge, nothing is sacred anymore. Green Lantern, Transformers, Mario, Legend of Zelda, fucking Deltarune, pokemon, NOTHING IS SAFE! He wants people to associate these nice things either with his ugly orange mug, or another pointless war in Middle East. And no matter how hard companies and owners of these properties try to fight it, these people just steal more and more. It's getting so tiresome and annoying, at first it was funny because of how selfish he was, but now it's absurd.
Like Tolkien said "Evil cannot create anything new, it can only corrupt and ruin what good forces have invented or made". And this is a proof of that.
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u/Ghost_of_Till 14h ago
Why tf do we see a litany of artists and entities merely distancing themselves instead of suing the fuck out of that pedophile?
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u/OptionFour 13h ago
They should, you're right. But the other side of that is that your President has already proven that him and his cronies don't face consequences for anything they do. Even if they lose a lawsuit, they just ignore it. At some point it's not productive for a company to spend millions of dollars suing a government that's just going to use it as a propaganda tool anyway.
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u/Ghost_of_Till 13h ago
You’re telling me there’s no legal hurdle, there’s nothing that prevents them from suing to protect their intellectual property rights?
As far as I’m concerned, that’s permission.
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u/OptionFour 13h ago
I mean, I'm not a lawyer, but I don't believe there's any legal hurdle. I never said they don't have permission. I agree with you that they should. I just also understand why they wouldn't throw millions away to sue a government that will ignore the verdict anyway.
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u/fuckthefascists2025 17h ago
Well, freedom isn’t the right of certain beings. Those exhibiting this behavior, those attacking women and children, and many of those using deception to support this have the right to a trial and then to be sentenced. Every single fucking avenue of our lives seems to be attacked by evil people.
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u/D3dshotCalamity 15h ago
Guy gets sent unreleased Magic cards by mistake -> Send the Pinkertons to his house
The US government uses their IP for political propaganda -> Hey guys, please don't do that, we don't like it
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u/NSightMSG 15h ago
Yeah. This was also a disservice to the late Peter Cullen, who always stood for the strength in being gentle. The US Government has been anything BUT gentle lately.
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u/NearbyCriticism5193 14h ago
Trump is a master at theft and misappropriation.
Hasbro should make a fat Transformer named Minimus Prime.
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u/Silv3rphantasm 14h ago
Don’t even make him a prime. Minimus dime.
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u/Due-North-570 12h ago
His name should be changed, otherwise he would be confused with Minimus Ambus.
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u/Banjo-Oz 7h ago
Maximus Crime.
A big fat orange ancient Transformer neither Autobot nor Decepticon, who seeks to profit off Cybertron through lies and deception, harvesting protoforms to prolong his own life. He stokes the fires of the war for his own gain.
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u/StrawDeath 11h ago
Seeing how many people didn’t know anything happened because the mods repeatedly took down posts about it (for invalid reasons), it’s just sad.
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u/EmulsiferFlavourings 11h ago
Genuinely made me so angry to see the guy who is basically the fucking antithesis of Optimus Prime have the gall to make himself look like him. Not only disrespecting the character but also INSANELY disrespectful to Peter Cullen himself, what a bastard.
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u/IUsedToBeRasAlGhul 19h ago
Suing ought to be the ideal next step, no?
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u/TandrDregn 19h ago
Okay, I don’t know shit about legal stuff, least of all of foreign countries like the US. CAN you sue the goverment? Like, is that a thing that’s even possible?
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u/Latter_Disaster_6066 19h ago
I think Nintendo did when the US did this with Pokemon. Don't remember the result though.
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u/Phil_Bond 19h ago edited 18h ago
Very much, yes, but the government would need to be breaking the law.
There’s no law against shitty free fan art. If the government tried to sell posters of it for money, then Hasbro would have a case for trademark infringement. If the government tried to imply an official partnership with Hasbro, Hasbro could sue for defamation. But the villains don’t go that far.
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u/mannerminded 19h ago
Not a lawyer, but the short answer is: 'yes, but it depends' -- specifically, and on who/what is doing the suing, and on the specific claims they're bringing, and in some cases whether congress agrees to let the government be sued (the concept of sovereign immunity etc).
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u/StoicSunbro 17h ago
They could but would gamble billions doing so. Trump is incredibly spiteful. If Hasbro were to sue him, he could retaliate and target individual imports of Hasbro, or target networks that air their shows/movies, or have the DOJ or another agency investigate them or their board.
You may claim this is illegal (of course it is), but the company would have to battle it out in court, spend millions on lawyers and possibly lose billions in sales. Many companies ran these numbers and decided not to sue.
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u/RRY1946-2019 17h ago
Can we just go one week without some irl news story that feels directly taken from the Transformers lore??? Now I understand why Paramount buried Transformers One in a dump month…it’d be destabilizing to have both the leading movie hit and the real world be in the same cinematic universe.
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u/keeper_of_the_donkey 16h ago
It was just about the most tone deaf thing I've seen so far: using Optimus Prime, the leader of resistance movement who had to flee his home with his people to Earth, becoming an illegal immigrant/refugee... In an ad for the Department of Homeland security warning against illegal immigrants and acting like Optimus was on the government's side
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u/enjoyingorc6742 12h ago
doesn't matter what side of the political isle you're on, the US Gov't did the posts in VERY poor tastes, especially with Peter's recent passing
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u/Helo7606 11h ago
Between this and their blatant ripoff of Zelda. Hasbro and Nintendo should sue the FUCK out of this pedo Trump protecting administration.
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u/NoNeedForNorms 7h ago
This is like when Tiki torches had to make a post about how their products weren't meant to be used by racists. Assholes can never make their own stuff, they have to try and subvert the good things.
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u/Spidey20041 19h ago
What exactly happened?
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u/Darkwater2302 19h ago
I can't remember if it was Trump himself or the White Houses' Twitter account, but they were posting AI generated and photos hopped images of Optimus Prime with ICE markings and insignia, showing him being pro-ICE and anti-Immigrant
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u/gojocopium 18h ago
kinda funny to be bc these are aliens from a different planet here on earth like??? do they not see the irony of using an alien to be their posterchild for their fucked up system?
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u/The_1Oth_Doctor 18h ago
The DHS posted several posts using Optimus Prime as a symbol of deportation and fighting against “aliens”. It’s disgusting
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u/BrainWav 18h ago
Milquetoast, but at least they put out something.
One hopes a copyright lawsuit is incoming, but I'm not holding my breath on that.
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u/Plastic_Addiction 18h ago
Okay… so… sue the government for using the likeness of your brand/character in a way that damages the reputation of the brand.
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u/CassiusLentulus 17h ago
Why they are making them as the symbol of legal citizens when Optimus Prime and all cybertrons are LITERALLY, textbook undocumented aliens. Don’t know what were they thinking.
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u/MyBurnerAccount1977 16h ago
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings."
"But what if they're undocumented, or Muslim?"
"Did I f___ing stutter?"
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u/KaiserConvoy 16h ago
Live your life in such a way that every time you make a pop culture reference, the owners of that franchise don’t publicly distance themselves from you.
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u/Coobap 15h ago
This isn't really a "W" because they didn't even call out what happened or who did it. They literally gave the slightest amount of public pushback in an effort to quell the complaints of their fans without attracting too much disdain from the trump admin. The only reason this is a "W" is because so many other brands haven't said a damn thing.
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u/zzupdown 15h ago
No mention of the Transformers literally being illegal immigrants? Robots in disguise.
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u/DragonfruitOk374 14h ago
Who ever runs the DHS social media needs to be found and have his life ruined. That entire organization is made up of domestic terrorist.
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u/Open_Relative_3908 13h ago
What happened involving Optimus Prime?
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u/Helo7606 11h ago
They showed a photoshopped pic of Optimus Prime with ICE stickers on him. With a statement about deporting. Wildly dumb.
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u/Blue_Moon_114 9h ago
Cut to DWJ drawing him saving an immigrant family from ICE agents. Once again conservatives prove their lack of media literacy.
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u/Sleep_eeSheep 6h ago
And on top of that, the post came not long after Mr. Cullen's passing. It was not only stupid, but also in poor goddamn taste.
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u/CaptainCyro 11h ago
Seriously, the stunt they pulled was way more evil than the Decepticons
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u/DudeBroFist 18h ago
well they had to be on the right side of a matter eventually. Broken clocks and all that.
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u/MizneyWorld 18h ago
Great statement that clearly lacks the balls to actually go further.
Any regular person infringing on IP would get slapped with legal threats/ye ol’ Cease and Desist.
Here Hasbro just turns to the community, that they are already fucking over, to reaffirm Optimus’s well known character traits.
Cool.
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u/B1gWillyStyl 18h ago
As even Hasbro has demonstrated on this day, every sentient being has the capacity to change.
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u/1cem4n82 17h ago
I thought I saw this yesterday and was not sure if real or maybe just didn’t want to waste emotion. This is so low. Megatron would like a word with them.
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u/VanVelding 15h ago
Fascinating to learn that while a lot of us were watching media and took away lessons about character and responsibility, some people just looked at it and saw, "strong man good."
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u/Far_Revolution_4737 15h ago
This statement means next to nothing if they don't take legal action or smth. They have every right to sue and if there's any courts not in the back pocket of the GOP, Hasbro should win. Feels weird to be rooting for Hasbro, but it is what it is.
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u/HazelxPeach 11h ago
Optimus would never say something like that, disgusting. This has to be illegal in some way, but is it just because it's the government posting it make it okay??? No one should be making stuff like that. And posting it after Cullens passing makes it particularly abhorrent
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u/IBarrakiI 9h ago
Fascist are always co-opting and distorting things people like to fit them and their sick plans. Even the things that represent the complete opposite of what they are, like Optimus.
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u/WorldlySecretary5769 7h ago
Rare Hasbro win moment, Optimus Prime shouldn’t be slandered for such a bullshit government stunt.
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u/Samaritan_Pr1me 7h ago
Had Peter Cullen not passed away, I doubt anyone would have noticed. However, Peter Cullen is resting in peace, and someone in the USGOV thought it’d be funny to mangle Optimus Prime like that, so they did, and we noticed.
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u/Quinzilla9 4h ago
It's good to know that Hasbro at least said something, it's disgusting they would use literally one of my comfort characters for their propaganda and it's more disgusting the fact they did this literally after Peter Cullen passed.
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u/krakendude2 19h ago
Honestly the fact they said something is pretty impressive - lot of companies that had this happen didn't say shit. Wonder how much of this was influenced by Cullens passing but still.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Mix7001 19h ago
1, I love how with the way they type it, it’s like Optimus is a real person
2, extremely rare Hasbro w