Warner Bros. has faced significant online backlash after promoting its upcoming film The End of Oak Street with a video collaboration involving DogPark, a generative AI-focused dog podcast. The clip featured AI-generated dogs, including a digital version of the film's real canine star, Starbuck, and quickly drew criticism from viewers questioning why a major studio would rely on AI-generated content to market a film starring Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway. The backlash matters because several commenters said the promotion had put them off seeing the film altogether, suggesting the marketing stunt may have damaged rather than boosted anticipation for the release.

The roughly 90-second video was met with overwhelmingly negative reactions across Reddit, X/Twitter and Instagram, though Facebook responses were reportedly more mixed. Critics called the effort "cheap", "tacky" and "embarrassing", with some questioning why a big-budget studio would resort to such tactics for a film also featuring dinosaurs and two major stars. There is no indication that AI was used in the making of the film itself, only in its marketing, and Warner Bros. had not publicly responded to the criticism at the time of writing. The End of Oak Street, directed by David Robert Mitchell and produced by J.J. Abrams, is due in cinemas on 14 August 2026.