The 2025 NFL season has kicked off, and some fans have already identified a television commercial they’d prefer to steer clear of. Thursday night’s matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles was particularly unusual. An Eagles player was sent off before the first play for spitting at the Cowboys quarterback, and a prolonged weather-related interruption in the third quarter pushed the game past midnight on the East Coast.

However, numerous fans found themselves more annoyed by an official NFL advertisement commemorating the new season, which was shown once during the game and can be accessed on the NFL YouTube channel. The “Ride the Float” commercial disgruntled some viewers due to its seemingly generative AI production. While it included genuine celebrity appearances such as Druski and The Rizzler, certain portions of the ad appeared AI-generated, featuring a scene with a baby in Raiders attire singing and a CGI lion that seemed unusual. These segments exhibited the polished, uncanny valley look commonplace in AI-generated videos.

The NFL acknowledged in an official press release that the ad was produced using AI, branding it as the inaugural entry in a series for the “You Better Believe It” campaign. The advertisement, developed in collaboration with the marketing agency 72andsunny, presents parade floats that allude to inside jokes for each of the league’s 32 teams. Social media responded unfavorably to the NFL’s employment of generative AI for a primetime advertisement.

In spite of the criticism, the press release suggests that additional commercials akin to “Ride the Float” will be broadcast throughout the NFL season.