Warner Bros. Apologizes for Controversial Barbenheimer Tweets After Backlash From WB Japan

The Barbenheimer phenomenon brought Americans back to the movies in record numbers after the pandemic. Barbie and Oppenheimer's opening weekend easily became the highest-grossing weekend at the box office of 2023 and the fourth highest-grossing weekend of all time. The two juggernauts' simultaneous release sparked a social media phenomenon that no doubt helped drive traffic to theaters, but when Warner Bros.—the studio behind Barbie—jumped in on the Barbenheimer hype, part of its own company didn't even approve of the move.

The phrase #NoBarbenheimer has been trending in Japan recently after memes began circulating of playful Barbie images doctored with mushroom clouds and nuclear explosions. The Barbie marketing team tried to have fun with the trend, sharing some of these fan-made posters on its X (formerly known as Twitter) account. "It's going to be a summer to a remember," one post read with kiss and heart emojis.

Japan's own Barbie account, with the backing of Warner Bros. Japan, had a pointed response for its U.S. counterpart trivializing a historic tragedy.

"We consider it extremely regrettable that the official account of the American headquarters for the movie Barbie reacted to the social media postings of 'Barbenheimer' fans," the post read. "We take this situation very seriously. We are asking the U.S. headquarters to take appropriate action. We apologize to those who were offended by this series of inconsiderate reactions."

Back in the U.S., WB atoned for its actions and began deleting the inappropriate posts. "Warner Bros. regrets its recent insensitive social media engagement. The studio offers a sincere apology," the company said in a statement to Deadline.

The original post that sparked backlash received a community note adding historical context to the controversial image. "At 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945 (Showa 20), an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima for the first time in human history," the clarification read. "The particular nature of the damage caused by the atomic bombs is that mass destruction and mass murder occurred instantaneously and indiscriminately."

Barbie is still set for release on Aug. 11 in Japan. Oppenheimer, however, may likely never make it to theaters there, as Universal Pictures has still not confirmed plans to release it in the country. And while Barbie undoubtedly benefitted from ubiquitous marketing and memes, sometimes not all publicity is good publicity.