‘Vengeance for all’: How Iran’s Lego videos won narrative war against Trump

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Iran's Lego videos

In a digital battleground where narratives clash and information is a weapon, Iran’s Lego videos have emerged as a surprisingly potent force, capturing global attention and challenging dominant Western perspectives. These meticulously crafted animations, often featuring familiar Lego figures and blocks, have become a viral social media trend, bolstering Tehran’s narrative in its ongoing ideological conflict with the United States and Israel. Far from mere child’s play, these videos are a sophisticated form of propaganda, designed to resonate deeply and widely.

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The Viral ‘Vengeance for All’ Video

One of the most impactful examples is a March 29 video by Explosive Media, titled ‘ONE VENGEANCE FOR ALL.’ The animation opens with a Native American chief on horseback, setting a sombre tone that quickly transitions to a powerful montage of victims of perceived US aggression and domestic crimes.

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A Symphony of Grievances

The video rapidly showcases a spectrum of individuals and groups: Black Americans in chains, survivors of Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, and the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It then shifts to Iranian soldiers affixing large banners onto missiles, each bearing a specific grievance. These include “For the stolen Blacks,” “For the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” and “In memory of victims of Iran Air flight 655,” referencing the 1988 downing of a passenger aircraft by US missiles. The messages continue, commemorating Rachel Corrie, the American activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer, and victims of US wars in Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Iraq. Even the “children of Epstein island” are included, highlighting domestic US controversies.

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The Message: ‘ONE VENGEANCE FOR ALL’

As the tempo of the background music builds, the missiles launch. The video culminates with giant Lego-like statues of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu collapsing, before displaying the emphatic, all-caps declaration: ‘ONE VENGEANCE FOR ALL.’ This particular Iran’s Lego video has garnered nearly 150,000 views on X, demonstrating its significant reach.

Explosive Media: Architects of the Digital Front

Explosive Media is at the forefront of this trend. While their YouTube account was recently deleted by the Google-owned platform on grounds of promoting violence, the Tehran-based group remains undeterred.

Crafting a Counter-Narrative

The group employs bespoke lyrics and rap beats, often using Trump’s own words to expose perceived hypocrisy and accuse him of prioritizing Israeli interests over American ones. An Explosive Media representative, speaking anonymously to Al Jazeera, expressed frustration but no surprise at the YouTube shutdown. “We know well how the West wraps truth in silence and tries to mute every voice that speaks it,” he stated, asserting that their Lego-like brick animations are not violent.

The team behind these compelling Iran’s Lego videos consists of 10 young individuals, aged 19 to 25, who clearly possess access to the internet and social media platforms, despite government restrictions for most Iranians. While acknowledging that Iranian state media outlets are among their customers, the spokesperson insisted on the group’s independence, stating that media organizations purchase their high-quality content only after it’s produced.

Battling Censorship and Silencing

The deletion of Explosive Media’s YouTube channel underscores the friction in this narrative war. Despite accusations of promoting violence, the creators maintain their work is a legitimate form of expression. This incident highlights the challenges faced by groups attempting to disseminate alternative narratives on platforms largely controlled by Western entities.

Deep Symbolism and Sharp Satire

Iran’s Lego videos are rich with symbolism and biting satire, reflecting a sophisticated understanding of both Shia-Muslim history and contemporary political discourse.

Green, Red, and the Fight for Justice

The Explosive Media spokesperson highlighted the symbolic use of colours: green represents Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, and his fight for justice against oppression, while red symbolises the oppressor. This deep historical and religious context imbues the animations with profound meaning for their target audience. The placement of war helmets on missiles and drones, as noted by the spokesperson, is a particularly favourite and potent symbolic moment for the team.

Flipping the Script: From ‘LOSER’ to Laughter

Other videos employ phrases like “Epstein regime” and “Loser.” They often depict a Trump-esque figure wearing a red MAGA hat and holding a small doll, juxtaposing his promises to keep the US out of wars and help working-class Americans with accusations of betraying these commitments in favour of Israeli demands. The video titled “LOSER,” which flips Trump’s frequent insult back onto him, is considered one of their best creations. Another notable Iran’s Lego video was aimed at reassuring the Lebanese people of the IRGC’s unwavering support following heavy bombardments.

The recent AI-generated video shared by Iranian state media chronicles the US' military involvement in nations across generations. It ends at the phrase, 'One Vengeance for All'. #ThePrintFeature
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A Spreading Trend Beyond Borders

Explosive Media is not alone in this creative endeavour. Other creators like PersiaBoi and Southern Punk have adopted similar Lego-themed video styles. The trend has even spread beyond Iran, with Nukta media in Pakistan creating their own version ahead of Iran-US negotiations in Islamabad. This cross-border adoption underscores the universal appeal and effectiveness of this unique communication method.

Winning the Narrative War: Expert Insights

Experts agree that Iran’s Lego videos represent a strategic and effective approach to information warfare.

Breaking Through the Information Highway

Fasi Zaka, an Islamabad-based social commentator, posits that the brilliance of these Lego-style videos lies in their ability to penetrate a global information narrative that has historically been stacked against Iran by Western media. “These videos are ways of breaking through what is an information highway stacked against them generally in times of war,” Zaka observed.

Smart Targeting of US Fault Lines

Zaka also highlights the videos’ “smart” strategy of focusing on fault lines within US domestic politics, such as the “Epstein regime” and MAGA tropes, and portraying Trump as subordinate to Israeli interests. “They’re just calling it the ‘Epstein regime,’ and that’s a domestic fissure that they’re choosing to bring forward again,” he noted.

The use of Lego, a brand associated with children, also carries a deeper, poignant symbolism, especially given the tragic bombing of the Minab girls’ school by the US at the outset of the war, an atrocity that killed over 160 Iranian schoolchildren.

The Power of ‘Owning Smack-Talk’

Marc Owen Jones, a professor at Northwestern University in Qatar specializing in media analytics, emphasizes that Iran’s efforts to win the narrative war are crucial because it cannot win militarily. “Their best bet of success is to have public opinion on their side, pressuring the United States to stop,”.

Jones describes this style of communication as “troll propaganda” or “owning smack-talk type propaganda,” which he believes is highly effective in the current communications landscape. He notes that while the carefully chosen themes would resonate strongly with Western audiences, the videos’ origin in Iran—a country often depicted negatively by Western media—might limit their impact.

However, Jones praises the quality of Iran’s Lego videos, describing them as “well thought out” with detailed narratives, contrasting them with what he calls US propaganda, often characterized by “explosions with Hollywood films cut through them.” Zaka further suggests that the undiplomatic and ruthless messaging in these Iranian videos mirrors Donald Trump’s own communication style, potentially making them more relatable to his supporters.

The phenomenon of Iran’s Lego videos exemplifies a modern approach to geopolitical communication, leveraging creativity, digital platforms, and a deep understanding of target audiences to challenge established narratives and advance its own agenda.

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