DJI. From family Drone to killing machine.

Image credit: DJI

The war in Ukraine leaves us with another disturbing truth: the brand you use to film playful moments with your kids is also being used to kill people on the front lines.

War isn’t what it used to be, and it won’t stay as it is today. From the Vietnam War, the first conflict televised for families gathered around their TV sets, to the bloodiest videos now shared on social media of yet another senseless war at Europe’s doorstep, everything has changed again.

So, what do brands have to do with all this? Quite a lot, actually.

Today, every product or service is a brand—whether it’s chocolate bars, medical implants, cancer treatments, or commercial drones equipped with missiles to destroy camps and tanks.

Take DJI, for example. It’s by far the best-known consumer drone brand in the world. Every young aspiring filmmaker or adventurer dreams of owning one. But now, every young soldier dreams of a DJI Mavic 3 with a missile strapped to its belly.

Which brings us back to the question this article started with: is it acceptable for a brand associated with leisure, photography, and fun to also have a shadow of its communication tied to death and war?

No, no, and absolutely not. Have we lost our minds? A mass-market brand cannot, in addition to targeting its primary audience, casually embrace a military demographic. The long-term cost is far too high. Look no further than Volkswagen, which supplied over 60,000 vehicles to the Nazi regime, leaving its image forever tied to the toxic fascism of the past century.

Today, we see videos on social media of DJI drones crashing into buildings, hospitals, or camps in Ukraine. This is very, very bad publicity for the brand and an excellent example of how not to expand your target audience at all costs. Ultimately, it’s dirty money.

Image credit: Vadim Ghirda/AP

Mr. CEO of DJI, do the math carefully. Take a close look at how much revenue you’ve made from these drones and how much you invest each year to be a leader in your sector. Sharpen your pencil, because you might find that much of your budget is going toward removing videos of your drones splattered with blood and wreckage from social media.

There’s not much more to add. War is deeply complex, with countless angles that we are in no position to fully analyze here. But one thing is clear: a brand should, above all else, inspire something positive in people. Everything else? Just nonsense.