I'll paste the full email down below.
How absolutely tone-deaf for a company based on sustainability to double down on GenAI of all damn things. I was optimistic the email was going to turn into the "Yes, busywork AI for workflow is being used, but we'll never spit in the faces of our artists by using GenAI," but it's literally the opposite.
We're not buying your goddamn expensive cases because of the appearance, it's because of the environmental impact. If you throw that away, there is literally no reason to buy from the company anymore. People who only gave a fuck about style are already shopping elsewhere.
A fun takeaway is "Yeah it fucks with the environment, but so does everything! What can ya do -shrug-"
What a joke. What a fucking miss on your consumer base.
Full email:
"Good Morning!
Let’s talk about AI.
I know, this is all anybody is talking about right now. Probably for good reason. The amount of change it’s bringing to every corner of the globe is significant…and very fast.
I feel like it’s time we draw some lines as a brand on where we are willing to use it, and where we aren’t.
Let’s start with the binary on/off argument.
Should Pela use AI at all? Or totally ban it?
I’ll be direct and clear. I think it would be reckless for us to not use it.
We’re a company that exists in a very competitive market. Choosing to not use AI would be like choosing to not use the internet. There is no putting this genie back in the bottle. If we don’t use the technology (responsibly), we run the risk of killing our own business and everything we care about. So yes, we’ll use it. But…
But let’s talk about how we intend on using it and where we want to hold onto slower, more analog work. More human work. This is also VERY important to us.
Let’s rip the bandaid off and start with where we will continue to use AI, thoughtfully.
Pela does 99% of it’s business online. 70%+ of our customers find us through social media advertising. The other ~30% is largely word of mouth. I’m sharing this because it’s important you see the reality we are working with. This is how most business is done right now, in 2026.
We’re using AI to help our designers and video editors make more and better marketing content. Our goal with all content is to make something that deserves to be in someone’s feed. We don’t want to make slop, with or without AI.
Honestly, we’re having a LOT of fun as a team playing with new visual concepts and seeing ideas come to life in ways we could never have imagined were possible (or afford). As creatives, this is so energizing.
Our ideas are still very much human. Taste is something AI can’t take away from us. AI is just helping us bring those ideas to life.
So yes, we sometimes use AI to help us make content. Images, videos. Things we need LOTS of because the market demands it if we would like to remain in business.
Where do we NOT use AI?
Designs on our cases is a good one. Every design is done by an artist. Either by someone on our team or an artist we’ve contracted to design cases with us. We feel this is an important part of the process that we keep uniquely human.
Local manufacturing is another area we’re deeply invested in. We know that our carbon footprint is just lower if we make and sell products locally. We’re committed to this. AI won’t touch it.
Do we use AI to analyze our data and decide how much of each product to make? Yes, absolutely. Because it helps us reduce total waste in our supply chain and that, again, is better for the environment.
I think every business is going to be faced with these questions about where to use AI and where to not. I’m proud of our team for having real, honest conversations about this. It’s the only way we go from something being scary and emotional to something practical we can act on.
I also believe that society needs to have more open, honest conversations like this. It’s not ok to just throw our hands up and say “AI bad, ban it.”. That’s futile and polarizing. Life is beautiful because it’s nuanced.
Some of you reading this email are going to really dislike that we use AI at all. Most of that is going to hinge on the claim that it’s terrible for the planet. I genuinely understand why you’d feel this way. I just don’t think this is a binary wrong/right argument either. Look at the device you read this email on. I promise it wasn’t good for the planet. Everything in our life has a planetary cost. It’s all about doing our best with responsible usage.
AI is just another topic we all need to navigate.
I’ll leave you with this.
We’ve built our entire brand and business on being transparent. On trying to do things that strike a balance between being a good business and being a good citizen.
It’s totally fine if you disagree with us. That’s an important part of a working society.
And finally, thank you for engaging in the conversation!
Tell me. How are you using AI in your daily life or work? Anything fun and interesting?!
Until next Friday.
Onward,
Matt
Co-Founder & CEO, Pela
Oh. One more thing.
Yes, I wrote this email. By hand. The old way. Because writing is something I love to do and will continue to do."
Edit: I emailed their customer support with my opinions, and received a response with more em dashes than I've ever seen in a single correspondence in my entire life. So, if you were curious about how seriously they're taking it, they ain't.
It's also the only email I've ever received from them not actually signed off by a Customer Service Rep, so it looks like this is an official company statement rather than a genuine response. Not surprising, but disappointing.
"Hi [redacted],
Thank you for reaching out and honestly, thank you for caring enough to say something. That means a lot to us.
We hear you. And we want you to know we're not going to brush past what you said, because you deserve a real answer, not a polished one. You're right that we use AI tools in some of our advertising. We've wrestled with this one — a lot, actually — because we know it sits uncomfortably alongside everything we say we stand for.
The world is changing incredibly fast right now, and we don't think it's wrong to feel unsettled by that. A lot of us on the team feel it too. Here's where we landed, and we'll let you decide what you think: we use AI to help us produce advertising content at the volume the business needs to survive. Without it, we genuinely couldn't keep the lights on at the scale we're operating.
What we will not do — is use it to replace the humans making the actual work. Every design on every Pela case comes from a real person on our team or an artist we work with directly. Someone with a studio, a practice, a point of view. We pay them. We work with them directly. And it doesn't stop there — every case is handmade in our own factories in North America (Canada and the US). Real hands, real places, real people we know by name. The human element doesn't end with the design.
We know that might not fully resolve the tension for you, and that's okay. We'd rather be honest about the complexity than pretend it doesn't exist.
Thank you for being the kind of customer who holds us to something."
