White House Uses Nintendo in War Promotion Video... Japan: "Unauthorized Reproduction Is Inappropriate"

Using 'Wii Sports' Game Parody for War Promotion
Japanese Foreign Minister Declines to Comment on Video Content

The U.S. White House’s use of imagery parodying the Japanese company Nintendo’s "Wii" game in its Iran war promotion video has drawn criticism from Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.

According to Kyodo News on the 17th, Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi stated during a session of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, "As a general principle, even public institutions should not reproduce copyrighted works without permission." However, he did not comment on the content of the promotional video itself.

A White House war promotional video parodying the Nintendo "Wii" game. White House X Capture

Previously, on March 13 (local time), the White House produced and posted a video based on the Nintendo "Wii" game on its official social media accounts, including X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. In the controversial video, scenes such as a game character making a golf hole-in-one or hitting a home run in baseball are immediately followed by footage of the U.S. military conducting airstrikes on Iran. There is also a sequence where a bowling strike is followed by an explosion, with the caption "strike" appearing on screen, blending game elements with scenes of war.

Kyodo News reported that it is unclear whether the White House obtained Nintendo's permission for this video, adding that the White House has previously faced criticism for unauthorized use of popular Japanese animation footage. This refers to another Iran war promotion video released by the White House last month, which included scenes from the renowned Japanese animation "Yu-Gi-Oh!" The producers of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" stated that the footage had been used without permission.

The video begins with a scene of Robert Downey Jr., the main character from the film "Iron Man," activating a computer system. It then features clips from various Hollywood hero movies such as "Gladiator," "Braveheart," "Top Gun," "John Wick," "Superman," "Transformers," and "Deadpool." The appearance of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and real footage of U.S. military airstrikes on Iran are cross-edited to make actual military operations appear cinematic.

The protagonist from the Japanese animation "Yu-Gi-Oh!" appears at the end of the video. The video concludes with the phrase "Flawless Victory" from the video game and live-action movie series "Mortal Kombat." Ben Stiller, director and star of "Tropic Thunder," criticized the video on his social media, stating, "I never authorized the use of this video," and added, "War is not a movie," demanding that the video be taken down.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.