Warner Bros has apologized after an official US Barbie Twitter account replied to ‘Barbenheimer’ memes featuring the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
#NoBarbenheimer has been trending on Japanese Twitter after images featuring mashups of the Barbie and Oppenheimer films with the explosions went viral. Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, is depicted with her hair in the shape of an atomic bomb mushroom cloud.
The official Barbie movie account replied: “This Ken is a stylist.”
Now, a statement posted on Warner Bros. Japan’s account described the comment as “very regrettable” and saying they “lack consideration”.
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They added: “We take this situation very seriously and are requesting the US headquarters to take appropriate measures.
“We apologize to those who felt uncomfortable because of these inconsiderable reactions.”
Later on Monday, Warner Bros. US issued an apology and said they would remove the offending tweets. The memes have since been deleted.
Although many Japanese Twitter users accepted the apology, they remained angry at the original posts from the US Barbie account.
Barbie is set to be released in Japan on August 11, less than a week after the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 of 1945.
The US dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people.
It dropped a second bomb three days later on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000.
Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending World War II.
Oppenheimer – a story about the American scientist who developed the atomic bomb – is yet to have a release date in Japan, but it will most likely be delayed until well after the anniversary of the bombings, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
It is unlikely, however, that the movie will be banned in Japan.
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