Overview
- The Correctional Services Department released an AI-produced one-minute PSA that used four K-pop–style avatars named Weedy, Icy, Coke and Little E to personify cannabis, meth, cocaine and etomidate, then removed the spot after viewers said it made drugs sound appealing.
- Viewers and journalists highlighted specific lines and scenes — including a character saying, “Give me a snort,” and upbeat pop staging that preceded the warning — as the elements that appeared to promote rather than condemn drug use.
- The department posted a revised version after the first removal, but it too was pulled after reports that it contained an erroneous line claiming people who take or sell drugs would not go to jail, prompting a second apology.
- Officials said the PSAs were made in-house by multimedia and social-media staff using AI, required no extra public funds, and that the department will evaluate its content-production and vetting procedures.
- The episode raises fresh questions about government use of synthetic media for youth outreach, the need for stricter editorial checks, and follows earlier Hong Kong publicity errors that have increased public sensitivity to anti-drug messaging.