The Air Force just used 'yanny' vs. 'laurel' to joke about killing the Taliban

A-10 Warhogs.
(Image credit: Josh Hedges/Getty Images)

In 9 out of 10 cases, brands using memes is a bad and not-funny idea. Incredibly, it turns out there is something that ruins a good meme even faster than a lame branded tweet, though: the U.S. military joking about killing people.

On Thursday, the United States Air Force dropped this rather alarming reference to the viral debate over whether this audio recording sounds like the word "yanny" or "laurel":

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The alarm and backlash were immediate:

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Some 300 members of the Taliban were reportedly killed fighting in Farah. Jeva Lange

Update 1:48 p.m. ET: The Air Force has deleted its tweet, writing: "We apologize for the earlier tweet regarding the A-10. It was made in poor taste and we are addressing it internally. It has since been removed."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.