The Atlanta Falcons will wear throwback uniforms this weekend for the first time this season.
In an apparent attempt to drum up excitement ahead of Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, the Falcons’ social media platforms unveiled a new profile pic that featured elements from the team’s throwback helmet.
The reaction probably was not what they expected.
The image features a black falcon with rigid angles against a red background with black, white and gold stripes down the middle. It surely was meant to evoke Atlanta’s throwback helmet, which is an homage to the team’s original red helmet used from 1966 to 1969 that featured the falcon logo on the sides and the stripes running over the top and down the center.
For many people, however, the presentation instead bears an uncanny and unfortunate resemblance to imagery used in Nazi-era Germany.
Commenters seem amused by the apparent gaffe and have chosen to convey their feelings through a plethora of puns, jokes and memes.
“This one is a little out of mein kampfort zone,” one Instagram user wrote.
“NFL: Stop hate. End racism. Increase our presence in Europe,” another wrote. “Atlanta Falcons: Invade Poland.”
It appears that the image was only used as the team’s profile pic briefly before being replaced by one featuring a side view of the throwback helmet. But the posts that announced the ill-fated PFP still remain online, with the X post alone garnering 43 million views as of Friday morning.
The Falcons and the NFL did not immediately respond on Friday to requests for comment.
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