► BRAF activates ERK but in some circumstances BRAF inhibitors can induce tumor growth ► BRAF inhibitors drive BRAF-CRAF binding, activating ERK in cells with oncogenic RAS ► Kinase-dead mutants of BRAF have the same effect as BRAF inhibitors ► Oncogenic RAS and kinase-dead BRAF cooperate to induce melanoma in mice. This evidence concerns the gene MAPK1 and melanoma.