Outdoor retailer REI Co-op removed an Instagram advertisement in June 2026 after a Meta artificial intelligence tool altered a product photo into a distorted image that drew widespread ridicule, according to TechSpot. The ad, promoting a Van Rysel EDR AF road bike, showed a bicycle with two sets of handlebars, multiple chains, and blurry lettering on the frame.
REI said Meta had automatically enrolled the company in an AI personalization tool that modified a vendor-provided image without the retailer's knowledge. The altered ad ran on Instagram for roughly a week, from about June 15 to June 22, before REI took it down. The human figure in the ad also appeared distorted, with features that looked stitched together from different people.
The image spread across social media, where users criticized the result. The reaction was sharpened by REI's brand identity, which centers on outdoor authenticity and craftsmanship. The cooperative issued a statement saying the tool had produced an inaccurate and inappropriate alteration of a vendor image, and said it had taken steps to unenroll from the program.
A fitness model later identified herself as the apparent basis for the AI-generated woman in the ad, noting she had been hired months earlier for a shoot featuring the same bicycle. The episode highlighted how automated ad tools can change creative assets after brands approve them, and how default enrollment settings can produce results a company never reviewed. REI said it withdrew from Meta's generative AI advertising program.
Source: TechSpot - https://www.techspot.com/news/112895-rei-pulls-ai-generated-bike-ad-after-meta.html