Hasbro pushes back against the DHS after an AI campaign used Optimus Prime to push deportation ads

Hasbro is distancing itself from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security campaign that used AI-generated images of Optimus Prime to promote immigration enforcement. Hasbro states that the Transformers character was used without permission.

The images showed Optimus Prime with DHS and ICE branding as part of a campaign encouraging undocumented immigrants to self deport. One graphic also portrayed the character confronting a man identified as “Mr. Singh” with the message, “Self-deport or find out.”

According to EW, Hasbro said it had no involvement in the posts and did not authorize the use of its intellectual property. The company also stressed that the imagery does not represent the Transformers brand.

Hasbro clarifies what Optimus Prime stands for

Hasbro responded directly to the controversy by emphasizing what Optimus Prime is supposed to represent. The company described the character as embodying “humility, leadership, compassion and justice”. This was before making clear that the DHS posts were unauthorized.

That puts the company at odds with the message attached to the AI-generated campaign. The DHS imagery used Optimus Prime as a symbol for immigration enforcement, including an image styled as a fake Transformers movie poster titled “Transformers: Age of Deportation.”

Another image drew particularly strong criticism because it depicted Optimus Prime confronting a real man, Harjinder Singh, an Indian national who was involved in a fatal August 2025 truck crash on Florida’s Turnpike that killed three people. The graphic included the line, “Get off our roads, you don’t know how to drive, Mr. Singh.” Critics said using his surname this way unfairly generalized about Sikh and Indian Americans, since Singh is a common Sikh surname.

The controversy grew beyond Hasbro’s objection. Advocacy groups criticized the use of the surname Singh, arguing that it could stigmatize a much broader community because Singh is a common Sikh surname.

The DHS post featuring Singh has since been removed. The agency has not publicly indicated that Hasbro authorized the use of Optimus Prime.