AI Startup Artisan Uses Stolen 'This Is Fine' Meme in Subway Ad, Artist KC Green Speaks Out
By admin | May 03, 2026 | 2 min read
You’ve probably seen this comic before: a smiling cartoon dog sits calmly amid a roaring blaze, declaring, “This is fine.”
It has become one of the most enduring memes of the last decade. Now, AI startup Artisan appears to have turned it into an advertisement—one that KC Green, the original artist behind the comic, says uses his work without permission. A Bluesky post shows what looks like a subway ad featuring Green’s artwork, but with the dog saying, “[M]y pipeline is on fire,” alongside a message urging commuters to “Hire Ava the AI BDR.”
Quoting that post, Green stated he’s “been getting more folks telling me about this” and that “it’s not anything [I] agreed to.” He described the ad as “stolen like AI steals,” and encouraged his followers to “please vandalize it if and when you see it.” In a follow-up email, the company said it had arranged time to speak with him. Artisan has sparked controversy with its ads before, particularly billboards that read “Stop hiring humans”—though founder and CEO Jaspar Carmichael-Jack has argued the message targets “a category of work,” not “humans at large.”
“This is fine” first appeared in Green’s webcomic “Gunshow” in 2013. While he hasn’t completely disowned the melting dog (he recently turned the comic into a game), it has clearly slipped beyond his control. Green is far from the only artist to see his meme-worthy art used in ways he finds objectionable. Some have taken legal action when their work is monetized or used commercially without permission—for instance, cartoonist Matt Furie sued Infowars for using his character Pepe the Frog in a poster. (The case was eventually settled.) Still, Green noted it “takes the wind out of my sails” to have to “take time 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.”
Green added, “These no-thought A.I. losers aren’t untouchable and memes just don’t come out of thin air.”
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