The controversial but prolific pro-Iran AI videos resembling The Lego Movie show no sign of subsiding, yet the Denmark-based Lego Group has stayed silent on the issue.
The popularity of the videos, many of which are created by a group calling itself Explosive Media, have raised legal questions such as whether or not Lego, the maker of the famous toy bricks and branded products, is concerned about its intellectual property being used without permission.
The only repercussions so far faced by Explosive Media, the group came from the Alphabet-owned YouTube video platform, which suspended the pro-Iran group's account.
“We terminated the channel for violating our spam, deceptive practices and scams policies,” a statement provided to The National read.
But the videos continue to be posted on just about every other platform, attracting hundreds of millions of views since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that commenced February 28.
One of the many videos created and uploaded by Explosive Media shows President Donald Trump having a terrifying dream about the after-effects of launching strikes on Iranian civilian infrastructure, including extreme suffering in the US and throughout the Middle East. It concludes with him tearfully eating a taco, in a reference to his “Trump Always Chickens Out” nickname.
Since April, The National has contacted The Lego Group's media team several times by email, web portal and LinkedIn to see if the company wanted to comment on its intellectual property being used for this purpose, but has not yet received a reply.
The closest thing to a response came from a PR firm representing the company's interests in various countries.
“Thank you so much for your email and for reaching out, an email read. “There’s no comment from the Lego Group.”
Explosive Media's videos have generated ample discussion in technology and policy circles.
During a discussion at the AI+ Expo in Washington, AI on the front line: Lessons from the Iran conflict, talk of the Iran Lego videos took up a large part of the conversation.
Max Lesser, a senior analyst at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies think tank, said Lego's lack of reaction to the videos is a completely different approach, compared with a similar incident in 2020.
At that time, a state-media group affiliated with China used toy bricks closely resembling Legos to criticise the US response to Covid-19.
“We weren’t involved in making the animation in any way. As a toy company, we’re focusing on bringing play to children and families,” a representative for Lego told Business Insider at the time.
Mr Lesser said that because the continuing conflict in Iran has become so polarising, it is possible that the Lego Group is trying to stay silent, hoping it can avoid offending anyone.
“There has been a lot of misinformed and misaligned domestic pushback against the US and it's a hot topic politically, so maybe that's why,” he said. “It's a shame that they don't feel like they can discuss it."
Mr Lessing lamented that the White House has also largely avoided addressing the videos. He said some have been particularly effective in appealing to anti-war sentiment among some Americans.
“One of the videos I saw had an Iranian speaking with someone on Zoom with people in Portland and San Francisco,” he said.
Max Meizlish, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies speculated that a fear of potentially becoming a target of Iran-linked hackers might also be a reason for the company's silence.
The National contacted to Explosive Media to take part in this story, but has not yet heard back.
The group's content started to appear in 2025, and consisted largely of political commentary delivered by a young Iranian. Its productions now largely consist of the Lego-style videos.
“The sun of truth is rising, minds are being detoxed and the people's time has come,” Explosive Media posted on Wednesday in a lengthy statement to its Telegram channel.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has also been quick to use AI with hopes of getting its message across on multiple issues.
One of the more prominent creations, released after the launch of the war with Iran, included clips from the game Call of Duty, inter-spliced with White House and US military images.
The pro-Iran videos created by Explosive Media, however, have proved significantly more popular, with more shares and engagement.
