Industry
PIZZA-LA apologizes for AI advertisement published without approval: Dr. STONE
An AI feature that was enabled without anyone noticing led to the publication of an unapproved video on TikTok.
On November 6, 2026, PIZZA-LA apologized for an AI-generated TikTok advertisement for the anime series Dr. STONE. The ad was run through the official account of the Japanese pizza chain without the anime's production committee having reviewed or approved the video in advance. The operator Four Seeds attributes the publication to a misconfigured function of the advertising platform.
Automatic video creation had been enabled
As ITmedia reported on November 6, a function for the automatic creation and delivery of AI-supported advertising material had been active when the TikTok campaign was set up. The responsible employee reportedly did not sufficiently recognize the status of this setting. As a result, a video was published that the Dr. STONE production committee had neither reviewed nor approved in advance.
As early as the end of October, users on X had pointed to striking depictions of the anime characters in TikTok ads and asked whether the rights holders had approved them. Four Seeds' later statement thus confirms the unintended use of the AI function. It is not an announcement of a general approval of generative AI for the production or marketing of the anime.
Four Seeds has halted the affected advertising video and, by its own account, has for the time being suspended all TikTok ads of the company. The operator apologized to fans, those involved and customers, as well as to the production committee, which was informed of the incident. The company also announced that it would revise the control of its advertising settings and its approval processes.
The collaboration with the anime was official
The regular collaboration between Dr. STONE and PIZZA-LA ran from October 1 to November 1, 2026. It included a pizza with two flavors inspired by the series as well as sets of key rings or acrylic coasters. The anime's website had itself announced the project on October 1. The official collaboration visual shown here comes from this campaign and is not the disputed advertising video.
The incident therefore concerns the advertising version distributed without approval, not the fundamental collaboration between the two partners. For the franchise, another anime production, Dr. STONE TERRAFORMING, has already been announced.
The debate fits into a series of other incidents involving generative AI in Japanese creative projects. aninew.de previously reported on the apology in the ShiroManta case and on corrected AI-generated presentation videos at LEVEL-5. Decisive for the current case is the lack of approval for the specific advertising video, which Four Seeds acknowledged.