Hard seltzer brand Gullies has blamed a “third-party social media supplier” after being accused of using AI to duplicate content published by competitor Arrowtown Drinks.
The RTD challenger took to LinkedIn last week to share screenshots of a professional shoot it commissioned to support a rebrand in 2024, alongside near-identical imagery featuring Gullies products shared on the seltzer brand’s social media last month.
It also shared a screenshot of a further Instagram post by Gullies which carried an identical caption to one previously used by Arrowtown on both its own social media and website.
“I was sent the posts by a friend in the industry who recognised our product shots and soundbites from our social media and website,” Arrowtown co-founder James Smith told The Grocer. “My initial reaction was surprise, given how similar the posts were. When you’ve spent a long time building a visual identity and tone of voice, it’s always a strange feeling to see similar ideas appear elsewhere, particularly from a fellow independent brand.
“Creative inspiration has always been a grey area – brands naturally draw references from others – but there’s a clear difference between inspiration and replication,” Smith continued. “Lifting a professional photoshoot wholesale, swapping the cans out, and publishing it as your own creative doesn’t sit particularly well.”
Contacted by The Grocer, Gullies accepted culpability and said it had removed the offending posts.
“We acknowledge the error and sought to resolve it as soon as this was flagged to us by removing the offending posts immediately,” said Gullies co-founder Timo Quallington. “We have also spoken to our third-party social media supplier and reviewed our internal process on signing off media content moving forward, to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We have personally reached out to the Arrowtown team apologising.”
It comes after peanut butter brand ManiLife discovered a rival brand called TuniVibe had been using AI to steal its own content last year.
Given the growing popularity of generative AI software, it was “only a matter of time until we see some kind of regulation in this space”, Smith predicted.
“The applications of AI continue to move quickly, bringing lots of exciting uses but also some difficult questions around originality and creative ownership,” he added.
No comments yet