Vallejo uses allegedly AI-generated image in advertising

Art supplies company Acrylicos Vallejo has drawn criticism from its customers for sharing an apparently AI-generated image online. On July 30, the supplier posted an image celebrating International Friendship Day to Instagram and other social media platforms. The image was used in two separate posts in both English and Spanish, and showed two figures shaking hands, one with an armored sci-fi aesthetic, and the other a fur-clad fantasy warrior. There are telltale signs of generative AI usage across the image, including odd proportions and perspective, an implausible axe-pick hybrid sprouting out of the fantasy warrior’s shoulder, and, most tellingly, the fact that they both clearly have two right hands.

Response to the image has been overwhelmingly negative, with the vast majority of comments on the posts objecting to the use of generative AI, and many highlighting that it was particularly poor coming from a company whose entire customer base is artists. This sentiment was perhaps most succinctly expressed by Instagram user 200lbgoblin, who remarked, “An art supply company using AI artwork is just embarrassing.”