In a bizarre move, the United Nations is partnering with Marvel Comics (creators of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk and more) to create a comic book set in a fictional war-torn country where superheroes will work with the U.N. to save the day. I’m not joking.
This is not the first time superheroes have been used as propaganda tools. According to MSNBC, superheroes were used frequently in World War II propaganda when, “superheroes were shown taking on Germany’s Nazi regime. Marvel’s Captain America, together with other characters such as Superman, were shown beating up Adolf Hitler.”
The U.N. says the comic books are meant to instruct children, “the value of international cooperation and sensitize them to problems faced in other parts of the world.”
The comic book will be distributed for free to 1 million schoolchildren in the United Says. Once the new Justice League of the U.N. and superheroes works their magic on U.S. schoolchildren, they’ll be called upon to influence kids in other parts of the world through comic book versions translated first into French then other languages.
What’s next? Will the U.N. will start doing air drops of their propaganda comic books? Is it just me who thinks this is the strangest move the U.N. could possibly make to improve their image? I can see the tagline now, “Don’t make the U.N. angry. You wouldn’t enjoy it when it’s angry.”
What do you think? A waste of time, energy and money or a brilliant, out-of-the-box branding tactic? Obviously, my vote goes to the former.
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