AI fruit affair videos stir backlash in South Korea

Artificial intelligence-generated videos featuring personified fruits caught in affairs and broken relationships are drawing millions of views on South Korean social media, turning bizarre melodrama into one of the latest short-form trends.



But the trend is now facing scrutiny after a major fried chicken franchise copied the format in an advertisement, then deleted the video and apologised following criticism that it had borrowed from provocative content easily accessible to children.



Pelicana, a nationwide chicken franchise, posted an apology on its Instagram account on May 9 after removing an AI-generated short-form video depicting human characters with fried chicken-shaped heads engaging in extramarital affairs.



In the video, a husband represented by plain fried chicken discovers that his wife had an affair with a piece of yangnyeom chicken, or spicy seasoned fried chicken, after their newborn baby is shown covered in the sauce.



The husband later falls in love with a pelican, the brand’s mascot, who appears as a doctor during the delivery scene.