Bethesda has recently released a new ad campaign to promote the upcoming Nazi-killing game, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. This campaign uses a variation of the already popular slogan of President Trump, Make America Great Again. However, the word “great” is replaced with “Nazi-free”, which sparked a lot of unexpected and unwanted controversies.
The campaign re-appropriates President Trump’s slogan
The Wolfenstein series has always been well-known for depicting the killing of Nazis. The latest game presents an alternate universe where Nazi Germany has won World War II, and is currently in control of Europe and the United States. Therefore, the central campaign behind Wolfenstein II is to get the US rid of Nazis.
This is why Bethesda took the already popular slogan, changed it to suit their campaign, and overlaid the text over a video game sequence showing Nazis marching on the American streets. However, this came in a strange time for the US , when alt-right supporters are marching through the streets.
Make America Nazi-Free Again. #NoMoreNazis #Wolf2 pic.twitter.com/52OESypw4P
— Wolfenstein (@wolfenstein) October 5, 2017
There are no hidden political messages in Wolfenstein II
Although that wasn’t Bethesda’s intention, the Wolfenstein campaign fell right in the middle of a controversy. Many people interpreted the anti-Nazi message and the Trump correlation to a campaign against the president’s supporters. Therefore, the ad sparked a lot of unwanted reactions, so Bethesda felt the need to clarify the situation.
The video game company insisted that there were no political motives behind the release of this ad campaign, and it didn’t want to promote violence or the massacre of any supporters. Wolfenstein has always been about killing Nazis, but this is just a video game. Also, the general conception was that no one should get offended about the slaughtering of Nazis since, for about 70 years, they have been regarded as bad guys.
The fact that the release of the game coincided with alt-right supporters marching in the streets is purely coincidental. Wolfenstein II is merely a game, so it shouldn’t be taken seriously. It has been released only for entertainment purposes, so there are no secret messages or connections hidden in it.
Oh a Trump joke, because the subtext is advocating murder of Trump supporters. Pretty funny, devs!
— Captain Red Skeleton (@mokraz1982) October 6, 2017
Image Source: Flickr