The makers of the Corps’ new M27 automatic rifle, Heckler & Koch, took a playful jab at the Corps Tuesday, calling the Marines “crayon eaters” in a post on its Facebook page.
Heckler & Koch posted photos of a new batch of its M27 Infantry Automatic Rifles, or IARs, which were slated to be delivered to the Marines.
“A fresh batch of M27 rifles leaving Georgia headed to the Devil Dogs. If any of you crayon eaters are reading this, please treat them nice, even though we built them to be Marine proof,” the Facebook post from Heckler & Koch reads.
The post went viral. It appeared most found the post comical ― one person even called for Heckler & Koch’s social media representative to be promoted.
Marines and veterans routinely joke about Marines eating crayons. It’s often captured in the popular Marine humor comic known as Terminal Lance.
Heckler & Koch’s post didn’t stop there with the crayon jab, the company pressed forward, even teasing that its M27 manual was mostly pictures, for Marine comprehension.
The Corps plans to field the M27 across the infantry. Marine Corps Times reached out to Heckler & Koch for a comment and have yet to receive a response.
Heckler & Koch deleted their original Facebook post.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
