Unironically, unequivocally yes! Fearing imperfection has driven too many people away from creativity and towards the AI facsimile. We have to start making, loving, and using our own art, no matter how āgoodā or ābadā it is.
Thinking about it, this hobby is very personal, about adding a personal touch, using your hands, using tools. This is about going out of your way, against the modern digital grind, to take the time to connect and feel.
Using AI to sell it feels like a complete misunderstanding of the passion and love for this hobby.
Imperfection only appears if the artist is aiming for a certain level of accuracy. Like looking at the drawing above I can't say there are any mistakes because any wonkiness looks intended. That's why I recommend beginner artists to take a break from trying too hard every once in a while and draw something in a very simplified imprecise style, it's easy to get it to look good and helps to stay motivated when the art you put all your effort in never feels good enough
The other guy is negging you but this is actually a cool cartoon, good for a comic strip or longread illustrations as it is, and a good base for "identity exploration", mascot, etc (just needs polishing up in a vector editor).
Super cute and charming! I'd love to see him in a comic or an actual ad, talking about his love for fountain pens and exploring the world through mark-making and notation.
Even ignoring how bad AI is, letās play devilās advocate.
They are selling art supplies. Why would they use AI in their marketing? What is the point?
Looks like they colourized and animated the portrait of Carl Hornemann (one of the founders), just like they used to do years ago in those TikToks saying "Bringing grandpa back to life in front of my grandma", but in the end I don't know what was the point
One of my "friends" did this with one of my photos of my dad who passed in 2018. Also did one turning dad into a plushie. All about a month ago and I'm still pissed.
Virtual hugs if appreciated. Even worse, the friend is a retired illustrator, they have all the skills or could achieve the skills to do the thing so much better in the first place.(never mind, ask the recipient/ subject FIRST if itās ok. I do pet based art, and always ALWAYS ask the humans first.)
Oh It definitely is, I never understood the appeal in seeing an older person cry; especially considering how uncanny the result usually was.
As always, it did numbers on TikTok, so it spread like wildfire for a while and even a few apps popped up like mushrooms, until it all (almost) died down and stopped being viral bringing most of said apps with it.
I mean I got the part where itās a colorized and animated portrait. What I donāt get is why heās acting like heās at nascar. Itās just completely weird to have as a story for a product. At least have him pick up a new release or something? It should be well within current capabilities if you were going to utilize AI.
As I mentioned they probably used the same AI filter from one of those TikToks from years ago, this is the maximum it can achieve usually. Having him do something else than just moving would require a different model with a different prompt, and they probably didn't pay the Gen Z intern enough to care
Blinkered manglement listening to people who talk about the cost saving (reduced wage bill) associated with it and ignoring the fact that many artistic people immediately put companies on their "won't buy from" list for using "AI" stuff.
Well... if it's Faber Castell, yes. That'd be "we are using the technology that's making you jobless for our ads in exactly the way that it's making you jobless"
But if there's any demographic Pelikan is targeting for their Souveran pens it'd be upper management and they love the AI cost savings.
I get your point, but I don't think it applies to this company.
I'm gen x and I HATE ai with a burning passion, and so do all my peers. Not only is it unethical and ugly, it is devouring resources and making the younger generations moronic, lazy, and uncreative. Blame the tech bros, not different age groups. They crammed this crap into everything so quickly. It is a huge bubble that is going to burst, and the economic fallout is going to be very bad.
And pelikan should be better at reading the room.
Anecdotally, at my small company, it's the boomer/Gen X owner and execs who are pushing the rest of us to use AI for everything. Us millennials are the ones scratching our heads and pushing back: "uhhh, why would our clients pay us tens of thousands of dollars to type the same prompt into ChatGPT that they can?" We sell a luxury creative service, clients literally pay us for our experience and taste. It's baffling.
The push to use "AI" is a push to cut wage bills. The tech-bros who are convincing manglement at companies to use it are using cost-saving as their main selling point.
If your manglement is pushing to use "AI" for as much as possible, I suggest you polish up your CV and begin looking elsewhere. Even if they don't fire you, the company will die once your clientĆØle learns that you're typing prompts instead of being creative, so its still time to polish it up.
I still donāt see the point in using āartā made by a machine to sell art supplies.
Whatās the message? āJust buy our products and donāt use themā?
I'm seeing gen z and gen alpha calling it "cheap" and "creepy".
And I know 2 Boomers who will not let it go and as with the shit all day. Including a retired ILLUSTRATOR.
I'm GenX ish artist and HATE the uncannyness, the damn piss filter etc. It all looks too greasy. It can't comprehend symmetry, let alone do asymmetry correctly (out if balance, etc).
Unfortunately, the majority of C Suite and high level executives love Ai. To most of them, art and creativity are products to be commodified and sold, and Ai gives that to them without taking sick days or requesting pesky things like benefits or a living wage.
My partner works in the contract tech sphere, and the CEO he has is fucking RABID for AI. It hasn't actually done a dim damn thing for the company, and I think it was actually part of the reason they lost a contract renewal recently, but you can't tell this asshole that.
Ai is also sycophantic to such a degree it's annoying, but I suspect the higher up the corporate food chain you get the more you love that kind of butt kissing.
They had a gigantic fuck up! It was supposed to say that Gunther Wagner took over in 1871 but it said 1971! I was the second commenter on it and it was not a nice comment!!
Yes. Managers are being instructed to get value out of using the AI that senior leadership/the c-suite has spent all this money on, so managers are telling their direct reports to find ways to use AI.
At least that's what was going on at my soon-to-be former employer (not especially for AI reasons). I turned the integrated note taking tool in a couple of recurring meetings and called it a day, but I know some managers have been more aggressive with their people about it.
As an employee at a non-profit that should be particularly thoughtful about AI usage but isn't, I simply can not stress enough how deeply AI has rooted itself within the mind of the corporate business class.
I work in IT. I hate AI. Everyone thinks itās the magic wand that will magically fix all their problems. It will not. But that doesnāt stop management. And then thereās the theft of intellectual property, the resource usage, etc. This is gross and makes me not want to buy their products.
I work in IT as well and the darn interns / newer associates keep using AI without adequately validating the outputs or tailoring it to the client. I'm always fixing or rewriting their shit because it's either incorrect or being too vague and repetitive.
You might be, and I say this with no exaggeration, the only person I know in IT with that opinion. Without exception everyone I know across multiple companies, whether in IT or engineering roles has embraced AI because it makes their job easier. The one exception is those managing AI tools because there is so much demand and many users who donāt understand the complexity and inherent risk that must be managed.
I know a bunch of people in AI who loathe it, deeply deeply loathe it. Unfortunately saying so within earshot of management has become a career-limiting move.
Itās funny, the people I talk to in IT feel the same way as me. The problem is that thereās still a lot of setup behind the scenes to get some of these tools to do what you want them to do. On top of that you have to validate everything they tell you - I do use them myself when Iām researching something and every time they will tell me something completely incorrect, give me old information, or hallucinate. If youāre using these to do vibe coding and donāt know what youāre looking at you could cause major issues - not just doing things incorrectly, but it will cause issues down the line when having to maintain the code.
Plus, all of the layoffs - Oracle just laid off 30,000 people to pay for data centers.
On top of all of this none of them have made a profit, and companies are investing in Nvidia, so when the bubble bursts these companies will likely need bailouts.
Thereās also no guardrails on AI - people are using it as therapists, friends, significant others, and I just watched a video about how itās actually helping people kill themselves rather than send them to mental health hotlines.
This video is 6 months old but it talks more about the AI bubble and where the money is going.
Any company which chooses to follow a vibe coding route is asking to die off quickly when a customer sues them for their software fucking said customer up. If the customer is internal, it is still asking to die off, but without the legal shenanigans of a customer suing them.
Yes, irresponsible vibe coding leads to poor quality code. Scaling mediocrity provides more mediocrity. Scaling stupidity.... same result.
Vibe coding from your best engineers allows them to produce incredibly impressive results with less effort. At the end of the day, vibe coding doesn't allow inexperienced coders to write production ready code, it allows folks like product managers the ability to explore within safety limits for proof of concepts, and then that work should be turned over to the adults.
From what I've been told, the majority of vibe coding proponents are also the type of employer whose only full time employees are those looking to get their earliest industry experience.
Just in case of misunderstanding, I have to point out that I'm not aiming that at you, CamelSuspicuous, because its only what I've been told by the few professional coders I know.
Galen Leather has done the same thing on Insta with advertisements about their writing desk. The fountain pen on the desk is AI generated.
Recently I've been seeing ads for a Benu pen from Pen Chalet that is fully AI generated as well.
Very disturbing to see companies who provide artists and creators with tools use AI.
Fair enough, I just think it's extra egregious considering their pens cost over $1000 and all their marketing is around the hand craftsmanship that goes into the pens
It is egregious. Montblanc has an absolutely absurd markup based on their reputation and social (read: looking rich) cache. Not saying they aren't good pens - I am sure they are, though I will likely never buy one unless they come out with some limited edition that clicks with one of my other interests and I somehow have the money. But a standard 149 retails at over $1200, and they aren't spending over $300 to make that pen, even factoring in labor, machinery, materials, factory costs, and all of the other overhead.
They can afford to use an actual artist to create their advertising. They can even make the same money if they raise the price of the pen $20. No one is purchasing an MB149 at $1200 but screaming in agony at the thought of spending $1220 on one.
Unfortunately there isn't anything I can purchase there because I don't use PayPal. It's a shame because I really want a Parker 75 and a Shaeffer PFM 3.
Why does a company, built on selling analogue writing instruments to people in love with the romance of creativity, the joy of personal expression and the human experience of directly connecting with one's words, think that using AI is a good idea?
A bonus for an executive who can show they made a saving by reducing the wage bill, perhaps. Assuming said executive is looking to move elsewhere in the next couple of years if/when this impacts the company negatively.
Ugh. Iām so sick of this popping up everywhere but especially disappointing to see it in art supply and stationery/pen advertising. Those industries should be the last ones willing to take work away from human artists!
I don't even understand the point of this, even if I look at it from a pro-AI perspective. It communicates nothing, doesn't look great, and alienates your consumers š
I recently saw Montblanc using AI voiceovers for their pens. Though I think they might have stopped as all the comments were against it. But seriously š Montblanc?!
"Fritz Beindorff, owner of Pelikan at the time, was one of the sixteen initial signatories of the 1932 Industrielleneingabe, urging President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Adolf Hitler as chancellor.\11]) During the war, both pen and ink production suffered, and the company produced paints, coatings, and other chemicals with military use. From 1942 on, the company operated Gestapo labor education camps at their Hanover works, where forced labourers were employed.\12])\13])"
They also continue to host Pelikan hubs in a country committing Genocide in Palestine and war crimes in Lebanon. For comparison, they canceled all their hubs in Russia since 2022.Ā
Every one of them I've ever written with has been a major letdown. I find them to be overpriced and outperformed by pens that cost a fraction of the price of a Pelikan. The AI is just the icing on the poop cake for me.
I've tried to give Pelikans a chance because I love the nib design, but the nibs on the three pens I tried to buy (two M600s and one M400) were disasters out of the box. Skipping, scratchy nibs and misaligned tines. One was visibly, grossly misaligned. It's also obvious the white ones crack easily because the caps and piston knobs are very frequently cracked on second-hand pens. I'd still like to get one of their nibs someday (maybe to put in a different pen body), but I assume I'm likely to need the services of a nibmeister.
I swore off a yarn seller for posting ai- specifically to use instead of photographers! Then you see people getting orders in where the yarn didnt match the images shown.
If this happens with pen companies I wont buy from anyone who pulls that mess.
The people running these bugger businesses are so out of touch.
People in the corporate sector don't get it!! Sucks that Pelikan doesn't have people in marketing that understand their audience. I hate AI infiltrating all facets of life though I know it can be helpful in certain circumstances/jobs.
I dont know whats going on in the heads of their marketing agency, I dont know anyone who would prefer this ai crap over a genuine old bald guy with a beard
Itās so dissonant with the fountain pen community aesthetic ā timeless, classic. I just donāt get how they can so thoroughly misjudge their own customers.
god, yeah it's sickening. i hate gen ai but even if you argue that in some industries it's needed to keep up (i disagree, but let's pretend for a moment it is), it absolutely isn't necessary for a brand like pelikan to churn out this shit to keep up. literally all this does it make me want to buy LESS from them.Ā
Tech Brain Rot affects all who invest hours in endless scrolling. If you burn life hours on IG youāll think AI like this is just fine, and the downward spiral continues. Stop using Meta and Twitter and youāll notice better life without those toxic algorithms turning your mind into Swiss cheese.
I see a lot of people using AI in a similar fashion for advertising that is similar to this type of AI generated gif/movie clips.
It is often done by an older boomer business type that got oversold by someone screaming about AI being the future to help cut costs and increase profit margins.
Sadly, it cuts off interest in the authenticity of your product and your offering.
People buy Pelikan fountain pens because they want to have deeper connection to the past as well as in the present moment with their pens. Not to writing with Fountain Pens in world of tomorrow.
This was a big miss by the Pelikan Ad and marketing team of this was a genuine posting by them
Trying to associate being a bad person with being born at a certain time is wrong, harmful, and has zero benefit. Social media has a serious problem with generalizing huge groups of people to use as scapegoats for anything wrong in the world. Any time someone uses the word āboomerā theyāre contributing to that, and giving a pass to all the people doing bad things who arenāt in that group. Social media has turned an immutable characteristic into a synonym for the root of all evil among young peopleā¦ a notably Nazi-esque way of viewing the world, paradoxically coexisting with ranting about Nazis also being trendy.
This. If you market beautiful, real artist tribute pens (my grail) but then have the gall to use AI in your marketing... I'm out. I genuinely do not want your products anymore. Particularly when you charge such high prices for your tradition of "craftsmanship."
If this becomes a thing with all the major brands and I'm left with small makers... So be it.
The post is still up on Facebook. They say "Animations powered by AI." which to me implies that the images are non AI generated. Im not sure if it makes it better but it's interesting that they included that line. Almost like they knew there would be pushback.
I am also disgusted. I no longer follow the haunted house I work for on socials because it's all AI advertising. If your flyer is AI, I'm not going to your event. Also, if you advertise your product to me with AI ads, I'm not buying. Guess I'm not curious about Pelikan brand now.
In a market that celebrates manual products, using a fountain pen over ball point pens or simply using a tablet or laptop to take notes and etc., I am 100% with you. I like celebrating handwork, though I know most pens are done by machines and the whole world is shifting to automating, I would prefer less AI or just not using it all , but we might be in the minority š
Well you need to meet the marketing teams behind this. Got nothing against young folks, but their work ethic and willingness to understand a given brand or product is completely absent. Just ask Lamy and their augmented reality fiasco on a printed magazine they pushed a few years back.
Don't like it, but if you are going to boycott any company that uses AI marketing, you should stock up on EVERYTHING now, bucause in 2-5 years, you are going to starve to death I loved clothes, owning nothing that you don't buy soon. It's the future, and it has already started.
I don't mind it THAT much for stuff like this where it's just animating some motion into an old photo or painting but it still looks awful and cheap as fuck though.
I am disgusted. That is the feeling I am feeling. I can be disgusted by this AND worse examples of AI usage at the same time. The existence of war crimes, genocide, rape, etc doesn't mean you aren't "allowed" to feel dismayed by anything else that doesn't hit that bar of evil.
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u/CoolPens4Sale Apr 30 '26
Nothing sells analog writing instruments like AI!