Many social media users have been left feeling slightly baffled after the Ukrainian government tweeted a meme encouraging other countries to help arm the nation after being invaded by Russia, saying it was a 'weird' form of 'memeganda'.
The popular 'Trade Offer’ meme first originated on TikTok, and features a suited man standing beneath a pair of headlines that say ‘I receive’ and ‘You receive’.
According to KnowYourMeme.com, it gained popularity on the platform in March 2021, with a video by TikToker @bradeazy later becoming a ‘source material for memes in which an extremely unequal exchange is proposed’.
In Ukraine’s take on the format, under ‘I receive’ is a list that reads: ‘Heavy artillery’; ‘heavy armored vehicles’; ‘air defense systems’; and ‘combat aircraft’.
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Below ‘You receive’, meanwhile, it simply says: “Ukraine fights and defeats Russia so that you don’t have to fight later.”
Despite the fact Ukraine has posted a number of memes on its official channels in the lead-up to and during the Russian invasion, many people found the latest a particularly unexpected use of 'propaganda' - with one even using the portmanteau ‘memeganda’ to express their disbelief at the two unlikely worlds colliding.
One Twitter user wrote: “I refuse to believe that this is real life anymore.”
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Another said: “The future is f**kin weird man.”
A third commented: “This is not the behavior of a serious country.”
A fourth said their kids will be ‘so confused once they see this in their textbooks’, while another added: “Call me conservative but I preferred the times where state disinformation and propaganda wasn’t presented in meme form.”
One also said in bewilderment: “Memes are literally war propaganda now what.”
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But many others praised the ‘genius use of social media’, saying the approach was nothing but ‘awesome’ - with one joking it was the ‘best war meme page of all time’.
Someone also tried to summarise why they felt it worked so well, comparing it to a 1942 animated propaganda film starring Bugs Bunny.
“Some are surprised an official govt channel is posting a meme, but this is very much in line with Bugs Bunny selling war bonds, using new media methods to inform and sway public opinion,” they said, adding: “And I totally agree with them here.”
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Quote-tweeting another meme the Ukrainian government tweeted last month, one other person wrote: "If nothing else, from an anthropological perspective it is absolutely fascinating to see how memes are used by states at war."
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
Topics: Ukraine
Jess Hardiman