Lockheed Martin wanted to turn World Photo Day into a publicity stunt, but their efforts backfired spectacularly.
The American defense contractor, which also doubles as the world’s largest weapons manufacturer, asked its followers to share “an amazing photo of one of our products” on Saturday.
Instead the photos they received in response were filled with blood and violence reportedly caused by its products in Yemen.
Lockheed Martin deleted the initial tweet hours later.
The tweet followed reports that a Lockheed Martin 500-pound laser-guided MK 82 bomb was used in an attack on a school bus in Yemen that killed dozens of people, including children, earlier this month.
On Friday, CNN identified the weapon used in the attack, launched by a Saudi-led coalition, with the help of Yemeni journalists and munitions experts.
Former President Barack Obama had blocked the sale of precision-guided military technology to Saudi Arabia, according to CNN, but the Trump administration reversed the ban in 2017.
Lockheed Martin has since deleted its #WorldPhotoDay tweet, but the responses it inspired from anti-war activists live on.
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