Battlefield 1: EA Deletes Controversial World War I Memes

Over the weekend, the official Battlefield Twitter account used the hashtag #justWWIthings to promote Battlefield 1, but it didn't go over well.

The developer was called out for going too far in glorifying the Great War to move copies of the recently released shooter (via Polygon). One of "weekend goals" memes that caught the most attention was published on Sunday, October 30. It contained an animated GIF of a solider being burned to death by a flamethrower. The accompanying text read, "When you're too hot for the club." Here's the tweet in question, which was deleted, but not before it was captured by PC Gamer's deputy editor:

Searching for #justWWIthings on Twitter yields pages of results of people voicing their frustration and disappointment.

A spokesperson for EA told GameSpot, "We would like to apologize for any offense caused by content in the last 24 hours posted on the Battlefield Twitter account. It did not treat the World War I era with the respect and sensitivity that we have strived to maintain with the game and our communications."

Early on, Battlefield 1's single-player campaign does a lot to communicate the horrors of war, making this an unfortunate step in the wrong direction.

It's not the first time that EA has pulled down a tweet related to Battlefield 1. EA also scrubbed a #justWWIthings tweet from July, which showed a burning zeppelin, with the caption, "Bask in the glow of a burning airship."

Additionally, EA executive Peter Moore deleted an insensitive tweet pertaining to a Battlefield onsie. "Trench warfare requires speciality equipment and clothing," he wrote about the piece of clothing. "This is born the Battlefield onesie, with pockets for melee weapons and Doritos." Twitter user Wario64 captured the tweet:

World War I, which started in 1914 and ended in 1918, resulted in more than 37 million casualties, according to PBS. The removal of the tweets comes just weeks before Remembrance Sunday, a day when people in the United Kingdom honor those who died in wars.