• Marketing Business Console PC News Tiktok refuses to axe racist AI-generated ads for Finji games ‘Does TikTok want me to be grateful for the mistreatment of my company and our game?’ February 20, 2026 Developer and publisherFinjihas found itself is a strikingly strange situation. • The company behindOverlandand the upcoming gameUsual June(also known for publishingNight in the WoodsandTunic) is grappling with a slew of racist and sexist AI-generated TikTok advertisements for its games that it did not produce. • CEO Bekah Saltsmanfirst raised the issue on Bluesky beforesharing more details with IGN. • According to them, Finji does use TikTok’s advertising platform to attract interest toward its games, but its marketing team had turned the platform’s AI feature (called “Smart Creative”) “all the way off.” Finji was notified of these advertisements by several of its fans, who were served these advertisements in posts that appeared to come from the original Finji account. • According to IGN, one such advertisement was a modified version ofUsual June’s key promotional art (seen below). • Image via Finji The AI-modified image apparently extends the image to show the lower part of player character June’s body, displaying her in a more sexualized fashion while wearing a bikini bottom and thigh-high boots, evoking a racist stereotype of Black women.

Article Summaries:

  • Finji, the indie publisher behind Overland and Usual June, has reported that TikTok’s AI‑generated “Smart Creative” ads for its games contained racist and sexist imagery that the studio did not produce. The altered ads, which appeared to come from Finji’s own account, showed the character June in a sexualized, racially stereotyped pose. Finji’s CEO Bekah Saltsman alerted TikTok and received mixed responses-initial acknowledgment, denial, then a final statement that the moderation team had “already provided their final findings.” TikTok declined to remove the ads, citing an automated initiative. As a result, Finji has halted all advertising on the platform.

Sources: