An AI-generated animated series inspired by Love Island has accumulated 300 million views and 3.3 million followers in under a month, as platforms and IP holders scramble to position themselves in a format that has just demonstrated it requires neither a studio nor a budget.
Fruit Love Island, posted daily to TikTok by anonymous account ai.cinema021, replaces the ITV Studios dating format’s human cast with anthropomorphised fruit characters. Plumero, a plum from Barcelona. Watermelina. Bananito. Cherrita. The episodes run to approximately one minute each and follow the original show’s structure closely enough that ITV Studios has issued a statement saying it is “monitoring this phenomenon” and will “take necessary steps to address unauthorised commercial use” of its brand and assets.
TikTok has removed several episodes, though the reasons remain unclear. The content is now available on YouTube across multiple accounts, where it continues to accumulate views. Celebrities including singers Joe Jonas and Zara Larsson have publicly engaged with the series, the latter subsequently deleting her comment following fan backlash.
The anonymous creator has defended the work on TikTok, noting that each episode involves scripting, scene planning, and repeated regeneration to correct AI errors. The finished product has been described by digital culture researchers as “AI slop” and by its fanbase as essential viewing. Both assessments are probably accurate, and neither is particularly relevant to the business question the series raises.
That question is this: a single person, working anonymously, using generative AI tools, has produced 22 episodes of a format-derivative series that has outperformed most professionally produced content released in the same period. The production cost is unknown but self-evidently minimal.
The platforms are drawing their own conclusions. TikTok launched PineDrama this month, a standalone app dedicated to vertical serialised microdramas running 60 to 90 seconds per episode. Canadian publisher Harlequin has announced a partnership with AI-native entertainment company Dashverse to co-produce 40 animated microdramas based on Harlequin’s romance catalogue. Bogdan Nesvit, co-founder of Holywater, the Ukrainian studio backed by Fox Entertainment, said this week that AI use in microdrama production is set to surge “because it’s faster, cheaper, and increasingly indistinguishable to the audience,” adding that AI-generated content already accounts for 30 per cent of total microdrama views in China.
ITV Studios distributes Love Island globally. It has not said whether it is considering legal action.
Subscribers can read AI Video Week’s analysis of what the microdrama land grab means for producers and IP holders in this week’s Follow the Money.
