PIZZA-LA has apologized after an AI-powered TikTok advertising feature generated and published an unauthorized video featuring characters from Dr. STONE.
The Japanese pizza chain did have an official collaboration with the anime, which ran from October 1 through November 1 and included limited pizzas and merchandise featuring newly drawn artwork. However, the video served through PIZZA-LA’s official TikTok account had not been reviewed or approved by the Dr. STONE production committee.
The incident was first noticed after viewers spotted advertisements using character poses, facial expressions and artwork that differed from the official campaign visuals. Questions quickly spread online about whether the video had been created with generative AI and whether the production committee had approved it.
PIZZA-LA blames an overlooked TikTok setting
PIZZA-LA’s operator, Four Seeds, said the video was published because an AI-powered automatic ad generation and delivery feature had been left enabled when staff set up the TikTok campaign.
The company said it did not fully recognize that the feature was active and completed the advertising setup without disabling it. As a result, TikTok delivered a video related to the Dr. STONE collaboration despite the fact that it had not gone through the production committee’s prior supervision.
PIZZA-LA said the advertisement has been removed and that it has paused all advertising on TikTok while it reviews what happened.
The company also apologized directly to the Dr. STONE production committee and said it would reassess its advertising settings and content-management procedures to prevent a similar incident.
Four Seeds also apologized for the delay in announcing the issue, saying it needed time to confirm the facts. The company emphasized that anime works and characters reflect the efforts of their creators and production staff, and acknowledged that the unauthorized video damaged trust in the collaboration.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
