HBO Tells Trump to Stop Using Game of Thrones Meme for Iran Sanctions

The Trump administration was looking for a way to promote the imposing of nuclear sanctions on Iran with the depth and gravity that the subject deserves. Just kidding! Instead they tried to meme-ify the Iran sanctions with a play on the popular Game of Thrones quote, “Winter is Coming.” It looked a little something like this:

pic.twitter.com/nk2vKvHuaL

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2018

Unsurprisingly, this tweet from America’s King Joffrey did not go over well, with HBO responding with the following tweet:

How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?

— HBO (@HBO) November 2, 2018

Following their tweet, HBO made a statement saying, “We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.” Stars of the series also took to social media to voice their objection to Trump’s use of the catchphrase.

Not today. https://t.co/Jg51mGHPO1

— Maisie Williams (@Maisie_Williams) November 2, 2018

Ew

— Sophie Turner (@SophieT) November 2, 2018

@realDonaldTrump #Vote pic.twitter.com/IZe7KwQQvk

— George RR Martin (@GRRMspeaking) November 2, 2018

The administration’s move to reimpose sanctions undoes a 2015 Obama-era agreement, which lifted billions of dollars worth of sanctions in exchange for Iran’s nuclear de-escalation. Trump’s move is yet another in his continuous campaign to undo everything the Obama administration put in place. Trump had announced plans to reimpose sanctions in May.

But Iran wasn’t content to stay out of the meme war. Iranian general Ghasem Soleimany responded with a meme of his own on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

ترامپ قمارباز؛ من حریف تو هستم #Sanctions | #iran | #🇮🇷 ‌‌ ‌‌ شما برای ما خط و نشان می‌کشید؟ ایران را نمی‌خواهد، نیروهای مسلح ایران را نمی‌خواهد؛ من حریف شما هستم؛ نیروی قدس حریف شماست. بدانید هیچ شبی نیست که ما بخوابیم و به شما فکر نکنیم. به شما می‌گویم آقای ترامپ قمارباز! بدان در آنجایی که فکر نمی‌کنی، ما در نزدیک شما هستیم. در هر کجا که تصور نمیکنید ما در کنار شما هستیم. ما ملت شهادت هستیم، ما ملت امام حسین(علیه‌السلام) هستیم. بپرس ما حوادث سختی را پشت سر گذاشتیم. بیا! ما منتظریم؛ ما مرد این میدان برای شما هستیم. شما می‌دانید این جنگ یعنی نابودی همه امکانات شما، این جنگ را شما شروع می‌کنید اما پایانش را ما ترسیم می‌کنیم. بنابراین نباید به ملت ایران اهانت بکنید، نباید به رئیس جمهور ما اهانت بکنید، باید بدانید که چه می‌گویید. از پیشینیان خودتان بپرسید. از تجربه‌ی آنها بهره ببرید. یقینا در داخل آمریکا کسانی هستند و موسسات مطالعاتی فراوانی هستند که اینها را مطالعه می‌کنند، به او گوشزد می‌کنند و به او یادآوری می‌کنند. ۹۷/۵/۴

A post shared by Ghasem Soleimany|قاسم سلیمانی (@soleimany_ir) on Nov 2, 2018 at 2:14pm PDT

Look, I enjoy Game of Thrones as much as the next nerd, but is anyone else really disturbed that the leaders of two world powers are bickering over NUCLEAR SANCTIONS with Game of Thrones memes and catchphrases? I’m starting to think that men are too emotional to be in politics. In the meantime, enjoy these meme responses:

#MuellerIsComing 😈🗳🌊 pic.twitter.com/JRlfns5asg

— Ariadne Boudica (@WiseWarrior69) November 2, 2018

pic.twitter.com/YvfIOAi1PK

— Matt Manning (@MManningIEI) November 2, 2018

(via Hollywood Reporter, image: HBO)

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