In the age of unhinged social media antics, the official 'Barbie' account embracing atomic bomb memes shows just how close brands dance at the edge of disaster

• Warner Bros came under fire over the weekend for promoting "Barbenheimer" memes on social media.
• The studio apologized after its Japan office got upset over memes of "Barbie" basking in flames.

Warner Bros had to apologize to its Japan office on Tuesday after one of its social media accounts egged on the creators of nuclear bomb memes in the name of promoting the "Barbenheimer" double feature.

"Don't cheerfully reference the mass slaughter of some 200,000 people" might seem obvious in hindsight, but the episode exemplifies how dangerous the game of chasing virality can become for brands.

One of the secrets to wild success on social media, as big companies are fast learning, is to plunge deep into unhinged territory and pray your reputation doesn't take a hit.

Controversy for attention is nothing new to advertising, but the internet has reached a stage where the sought-after reaction has evolved from: "No they didn't!" to "How in God's name did this get approved?"

Consider KFC Portugal's TikTok account, which posts nothing but chaotic memes. "Zinger," says a cat in one of the ads before transforming into a spinning GIF. The video hit 3.2 million views in two weeks.

Duolingo has farmed 156 million likes on TikTok by letting its green owl mascot become manically obsessed with singer Dua Lipa, dance on Twitter's grave, and discuss "stinky stinky poo poo."

Social media, particularly people from Japan, decided that the antics had gone too far when they started verging into celebrating weapons of mass destruction. And Warner Brothers wasn't even the one posting the memes.

The studio's US headquarters on Tuesday told Deadline it "regrets its recent insensitive social media engagement," and apologized.

The controversy stemmed from how the US Twitter account for the film "Barbie" responded to fan-made posters of an excited Margot Robbie being engulfed in orange flames.

"It's going to be a summer to remember," the @barbiethemovie account wrote with a kissing emoji and hearts.

Another viral post showed Robbie with a mushroom cloud for hair.

"This Ken is a stylist," the account wrote with a winking emoji.

The tweets have since been deleted. Warner Bros Japan responded with a separate statement on Sunday, saying the posts were "extremely regrettable."

"We take this very seriously and are asking the US head office to take appropriate action. We apologize to those offended by these inconsiderate actions," the statement read.

Over the weekend, the hashtag #NoBarbenheimer started to trend on Twitter, building into a wave of backlash against what's been touted as the film pairing of the summer.

Meanwhile, Japanese Twitter accounts have started posting 9/11 memes in pink to illustrate their rage.

Warner Brothers did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.