The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is used to backlash for its own campaigns against copyright infringement. But when it got heat for a U.S. State Department campaign gone wrong, it was an unpleasant surprise.

The State Department claimed to have groups from the copyright world participating last month when it emailed Pr. Mark Lemley of Stanford Law School to join. The idea was to start a fake Twitter feud over the “#BestIPMoment” in American history, raising awareness about intellectual property in the process.

Lemley was grossed out. He posted the email to Facebook and soon, the media accused the government of plotting propaganda. “I confess that I was surprised people paid as much attention to it as they did,” Lemley tells the Daily Dot.