You’ve seen this comic before: an anthropomorphic dog sits smiling, surrounded by flames, and says, “This is good.”
It has become one of the longest lasting memes of the last decade, and now the AI startup Craftsman seems to have incorporated it into an advertising campaign, an advertisement for which kc greenThe artist who created the comic said his art was stolen.
A publication by Bluesky appears to show an advertisement in a subway station with Green’s art, except the dog says, “(M)y pipeline is on fire” and an overlay message urges passersby to “Hire Ava, the BDR AI.”
Citing that post, green said “I’ve been getting more people telling me about this” and that “it’s not something I’ve agreed to.” Instead, he said the ad “has been stolen like an AI theft,” and told his followers to “please tear it down when you see it.”
When TechCrunch emailed Artisan asking about the announcement, the company said, “We greatly respect KC Green and his work, and will be reaching out to him directly.” In a follow-up email, the company said it had scheduled a time to speak with him.
Artisan has sparked controversy with its ads before, specifically with billboards urging companies to “stop hiring humans” – although founder and CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack insisted the message referred to “a category of work”, not “human beings in general”.
“This Is Fine” first appeared in Green’s webcomic. “Weapons exhibition” in 2013, and while he hasn’t completely repudiated the melting smiling dog (recently turned the comic into a game), is clearly escaped his control. And of course, Green is far from the only artist to see his meme art used in ways he finds objectionable.
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But some artists have still taken action when their art is monetized or used commercially without their permission, for example when cartoonist Matt Furie sued right-wing conspiracy theory site Infowars for using his Pepe the Frog character on a poster. (Furie and Infowars finally reached an agreement.)
Green told TechCrunch via email that he will “seek (legal) representation, as I believe is necessary.” Still, he said it “takes the wind out of my sails” to have to take “time out of my life to try my luck in the American justice system instead of redevoting it to what I’m passionate about, which is drawing comics and stories.”
Green added: “These thoughtless AI losers are not untouchable and memes just don’t come out of nowhere.”
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