- REI says a Meta AI tool altered a vendor-supplied bike image.
- The resulting ad showed a bicycle with two sets of handlebars.
- After criticism online, REI says it has opted out of the feature.
Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI) is supposed to be one of the few business models that truly focus on ecology rather than simply talk about it. Now, it’s trying to dig itself out of a hole after using AI in a marketing campaign for a bicycle.
While the bike itself is real, the changes that AI made to it aren’t, and while it took almost no time for cyclists to spot the issues, evidently, it took the business days to notice the backlash. When it did, it blamed Meta for the entire situation.
Where The Trouble Started
The controversy started when Reddit users noticed the strange-looking bicycle in an REI Instagram ad promoting Van Rysel’s EDR AF bike. The image was reportedly based on a legitimate photoshoot featuring cyclist Amity Rockwell, who later revealed on Instagram that she had participated in the original shoot. According to both Rockwell and Van Rysel North America, the source image was authentic and professionally produced before being altered later.
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“The thing is, this was an official shoot. That I got hired for,” Rockwell wrote in an Instagram post. “So why are they Al deep frying the images? To alter a product they’re supposedly selling? And my face along with it? lol. I’m so lost.”
What Meta’s AI Actually Did
Screenshot Reddit
Those alterations weren’t subtle either. Most notably, the finished ad showed handlebars protruding from the saddle. Some bike companies do make components that can flip or extend to change riding position, but this looks more like an alternative, dare we say… kinky… addition.
On top of that, the left crank doesn’t exist in the photo and the chain appears to be on one side of the bike atop the chainring and below it on the other side. In other words, the kind of errors that have become familiar to anyone who has spent enough time looking at AI-generated images.
After the criticism gained traction, REI acknowledged that the bizarre image wasn’t intentional. A company spokesperson told Business Insider that Meta had automatically enrolled the retailer in an AI personalization tool that modified a vendor-supplied image. The result was what REI described as an “inaccurate and inappropriate alteration.”
REI Blames Meta And Backs Out
REI says it has since unenrolled from the Meta feature, adding that the altered image does not reflect the company’s standards or values. The retailer also apologized for the confusion, emphasizing that product accuracy and vendor relationships matter.
“Meta auto-enrolled us in an AI personalization tool that produced an inaccurate and inappropriate alteration of a vendor-provided image in some of our ads,” read a statement from an REI spokesperson shared by Fast Company.
“While a two-handled bike might be interesting, it is not something you will find in our assortment,” it continued. “We have taken steps to unenroll from the tool. This does not align with our values or how we manage our brand. Product accuracy and our vendor relationships matter. We apologize for the confusion this caused.”
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Meta has maintained that advertisers are given opportunities to review AI-generated content before it goes live. How nobody at REI picked up on this before it went live is anyone’s guess. How customers will react to the realization that the brand is leveraging AI technology that allegedly has a dramatically negative impact on the environment is almost certain.
