\n<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve seen this comic before: An anthropomorphic dog sits smiling, surrounded by flames, and says, \u201cThis is fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s become one of the most durable memes of the past decade, and now AI startup Artisan seems to have incorporated it into an ad campaign \u2014 an ad for which KC Green, the artist who created the comic, said his art was stolen.<\/p>\n
A Bluesky post seems to show an ad in a subway station featuring Green\u2019s art, except the dog says, \u201c[M]y pipeline is on fire,\u201d and an overlaid message urges passersby to \u201cHire Ava the AI BDR.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quoting that post, Green said he\u2019s \u201cbeen getting more folks telling me about this\u201d and that \u201cit\u2019s not anything [I] agreed to.\u201d Instead, he said the ad has \u201cbeen stolen like AI steals,\u201d and he told followers to \u201cplease vandalize it if and when you see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When TechCrunch sent Artisan an email asking about the ad, the company said, \u201cWe have a lot of respect for KC Green and his work, and we\u2019re reaching out to him directly.\u201d In a follow-up email, the company said it had scheduled time to speak with him.<\/p>\n
Artisan has courted controversy with its ads before, specifically with billboards urging businesses to \u201cStop hiring humans\u201d \u2014 although founder and CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack insisted that the message was about \u201ca category of work,\u201d not \u201chumans at large.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is fine\u201d first appeared in Green\u2019s webcomic \u201cGunshow\u201d in 2013, and while he hasn\u2019t disavowed the smiling-melting dog entirely (he recently turned the comic into a game), it\u2019s clearly escaped from his control.\u00a0 And of course, Green is far from the only artist to see his meme-able art used in ways he finds objectionable.<\/p>\n
Techcrunch event<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> But some artists have still taken action when their art is monetized or used in commercial ways without their permission, for example when cartoonist Matt Furie sued right-wing conspiracy theory site Infowars for using his character Pepe the Frog in a poster. (Furie and Infowars eventually settled.)<\/p>\n Green told TechCrunch via email that he will be \u201clooking into [legal] representation, as I feel I have to.\u201d Still, he said it \u201ctakes the wind out of my sails\u201d that he has to take \u201ctime out of my life to try my hand at the American court system instead of putting that back into what I am passionate about, which is drawing comics and stories.\u201d<\/p>\n Green added, \u201cThese no-thought A.I. losers aren\u2019t untouchable and memes just don\u2019t come out of thin air.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n