{"id":136177,"date":"2025-09-06T03:26:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T03:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/136177\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T03:26:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T03:26:19","slug":"riding-the-nfls-ai-float-into-despair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/136177\/","title":{"rendered":"Riding the NFL\u2019s AI Float Into Despair"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most offensive part of the kickoff game wasn\u2019t the loogie seen round the world. It was the league\u2019s horrifying AI slop commercial. <\/p>\n

The NFL is deliberating on further discipline for Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on Thursday night. But what recourse will there be for the league visually spitting in my eyeballs with its new \u201cRide the Float\u201d commercial?<\/p>\n

Look at this AI slop monstrosity:<\/p>\n

The ad suggests that to \u201cride the float\u201d is to get on board with the hope of a new season and the belief that your team really can win it all. The implication seems closer to riding the bandwagon, which is a real thing sports fans say, but instead it\u2019s \u201cthe float.\u201d Floats evoke big parades, like in Mardi Gras. So maybe the theme of this commercial would make some sense if the upcoming Super Bowl were in New Orleans, like it was literally last season. But it\u2019s not. ChatGPT-ass concept. The \u201cfloat\u201d also wound up looking less like a parade float and more like a radioactive Noah\u2019s Arc carrying the Rizzler.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The song \u201cRide the Float\u201d is a riff on Quad City DJ\u2019s \u201cC\u2019mon N\u2019 Ride It (The Train),\u201d and it is performed by Normani, whose involvement in this whole thing is unfortunate but whose ability to cash a check I support. The lyrics have been updated to mention various teams and are \u201cperformed\u201d by AI versions of mascots or local superfans rendered in the most aesthetically offensive way possible.<\/p>\n

Look at this freaky Raiders baby!<\/p>\n

They made Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, and Andy Reid into a \u201cthree headed G.O.A.T,\u201d which looks like a Cerberus with a haunting skin texture. There\u2019s a weird bit where comedian Druski rides a CGI dolphin in front of a green screen and then complains his thighs are chafing, but at least he\u2019s an actual person. The rest of it all just looks wrong in the way that all AI slop looks wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll be shocked to hear that the lyrics are less than elegant, like the line for the Falcons: \u201cATL aura weighs a ton.\u201d This is the explanation of that line from the actual glossary<\/a> the NFL released alongside this ad:<\/p>\n

\u201cRayyan Arkan Dikha, an 11-year-old boy who lives in Indonesia, went viral this summer when a video of him dancing on a boat<\/a> was posted and aura farming was born. Aura = something you want to have. ATL aura weighs a ton.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aura = something you want to have. I\u2019m mad they\u2019re not even pretending to try. Also, that 11-year-old boat kid doesn\u2019t give a hoot about the Falcons! This commercial has the worst aura of all time.<\/p>\n

Whatever this commercial is please make it stop<\/p>\n

\u2014 lindsey ok (@lindseyyok) September 5, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet the NFL appears to be proud of itself. It\u2019s touting \u201cYou Better Believe It,\u201d the actual name of the commercial, as a \u201chigh-energy 2025 Kickoff campaign that combines artificial intelligence and live action to create a larger-than-life, all-32 team fan celebration.\u201d That is \u2026 not a combination of words that any living, thinking human being should find compelling, and yet here we are. The NFL managed to get coverage<\/a> of this thing in Rolling Stone! I can forgive the corniness of the \u201cMotivatin\u2019\u201d Peyton Manning commercial, or even the NFL promoting the Karol G halftime show at Chiefs-Chargers like they\u2019re bringing people Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. But a league that made $23 billion in revenue last year outsourcing ads to a cousin of Grok and then crowing about it is a bridge too far!\u00a0<\/p>\n

So it was heartening (and even delightful) that during the kickoff game Thursday almost everyone agreed that this commercial is freaky and bad. This was the top comment in response to the NFL account posting the spot:<\/p>\n

The float ad was also immediately a fixture on r\/CommercialsIHate<\/a>. The top comment: \u201cI am dead serious and not exaggerating when I say that is the worst commercial I’ve seen in years.\u201d That is saying something coming from this particular Reddit community!<\/p>\n

The NFL is threatening<\/a> to continue airing \u201cadditional \u2018You Better Believe It\u2019 vignettes\u201d throughout the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nora Princiotti<\/p>\n

<\/a>Nora Princiotti covers the NFL, culture, and pop music, sometimes all at once. She hosts the podcast \u2018Every Single Album,\u2019 appears on \u2018The Ringer NFL Show,\u2019 and is The Ringer\u2019s resident Taylor Swift scholar.