Guns of Bullshit

What the picture shows

The frame is styled as a poster or video cover. The background is blue and yellow and high-tech: glowing horizontal stripes and blurred schematic patterns, like the title screens of games from the early 2000s. In the foreground a young dark-haired man in dark clothing aims a pistol to the left, with the barrel visible at the very edge of the frame. Behind him, slightly higher and to the right, stands a bearded man in black: he holds a grenade at his shoulder and looks straight into the camera with a serious, slightly bewildered face.

In the lower left, large yellow letters read “GUNS OF BULLSHIT,” the words set in three tiers, in a blocky, “gamey” font. Altogether it looks like packaging for a shooter from the nineties or noughties, but the staging of the heroes gives away amateur filming: the poses are deliberately heroic, and the faces are too ordinary for an action movie. This contrast is what makes the picture funny.

Does such a game exist?

The title belongs to a real game: “Guns of Bullshit” is a first-person shooter released by the studio STREAMWORKS. According to game catalogs, it came out on PC in April 2020, has an online mode and a mode against bots, and its action takes place in a fictional country called Nerasia. News coverage of the game noted its simple graphics, reminiscent of Minecraft, and the fact that its authors call it a masterpiece.

Where exactly the frame with the two men was taken from, and whether it is connected with this shooter, has not been established. It cannot be claimed that the picture shows the game’s developers or that it is an official cover. Versions claiming that the meme was invented by well-known bloggers are not supported either: there is no such evidence in verified material.

Why the title works as a joke

An English word at the end of the title is not usually put in the headlines of commercial products, so the combination of “guns” and “nonsense” sounds like the author’s own admission. Ads are normally supposed to promise, but here the promise and the quality label stand on the same line. The result is an ironic sign that can be stuck on anything: a long-awaited release, a loud presentation, a work project.

The picture amplifies the effect. The pistol and the grenade promise action, but two people in ordinary clothes with deliberately serious faces look like homemade cinema. The viewer reads it as: this is something ambitious, made with heart, but without a budget. The joke is not mean; it relies on the familiar feeling that a loud title and the content do not always match.

Caption examples

“Project presentation at the meeting. Slide with the logo: Guns of Bullshit” is a caption about a situation where loud packaging covers an emptiness. It works because office presentations are expected to promise, and the picture names things directly.

“The trailer promised an open world and a forty-hour story. The game: a corridor and three enemies.” Disappointment with the game industry. The caption builds on the contrast between promise and result.

“My résumé: experience in everything. Reality: experience in nothing.” Self-irony. The heroes’ serious faces emphasize that the person knows how it sounds.

“When a friend says he shot a blockbuster on his phone.” A warm joke about amateur filmmaking, where ambition exceeds the budget.

How to use the template

The picture suits situations where something claims a grand scale best. The caption can be placed above the image or right on it: the yellow title already takes up the lower part, so a short line at the top reads best. If you want a softer tone, write about yourself and your own projects; for a sharper one, write about advertising and loud announcements.

Avoid presenting the picture as a still from a specific game or film, or attributing it to any particular people: there is no reliable information about who created this image. The meme rests on the feeling that the title is more honest than the content, and there is no need to add extra facts to it.