You’ve encountered this comic previously: An anthropomorphic dog sits smiling amid flames, saying, “This is fine.” It has become one of the most enduring memes of the past decade, and now AI startup Artisan appears to have used it in an ad campaign — an ad for which KC Green, the comic’s creator, claims his artwork was stolen. A Bluesky post shows what looks like a subway station ad featuring Green’s art, but with the dog saying, “My pipeline is on fire,” and an overlaid message urging people to “Hire Ava the AI BDR.” Green, quoting that post, said he’s “been getting more folks telling me about this” and that “it’s not anything [I] agreed to.” Instead, he claimed the ad had “been stolen like AI steals,” and urged followers to “please vandalize it if and when you see it.” When TechCrunch emailed Artisan about the ad, the company responded, “We have a lot of respect for KC Green and his work, and we’re reaching out to him directly.” In a follow-up email, the company stated it had set aside time to talk with him. Artisan has previously sparked controversy with its ads, particularly billboards that urged businesses to “Stop hiring humans” — though founder and CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack maintained the message referred to “a category of work,” not “humans at large.” The “This is fine” meme debuted in KC Green’s 2013 webcomic “Gunshow,” and although he hasn’t fully disowned the smiling, melting dog (he recently adapted it into a game), it’s obviously slipped beyond his grasp. Green isn’t the only artist whose meme-worthy artwork has been used in objectionable ways, of course. TechCrunch event.
