Branded is a weekly column devoted to the intersection of marketing, business, design, and culture. Just a few years ago, iRobot, best known as the maker of the Roomba, was riding high, with ...

"the start of his villain arc." The comments didn't end there, as even more chimed in: "That AI robot will never forget what they did to him…" someone stated. "I guess he’s never seen iRobot?" ...

I’ve seen iRobot, and if technology ever gets to that level, I’m on the robots’ side." Some fans even joked that the incident could mark the beginning of the robot’s "villain arc ...