Surprise, Skechers is making AI slop again

Nowadays, AI ads are nothing new. With the technology permeating almost every aspect of our lives, from work to play, it's unsurprising that brands have hopped on the AI bandwagon, but it doesn't make seeing one out in the wild any less jarring.

While it's easy to feel a little existential about it all, there's one thing about them that continues to give me hope. AI ads are pretty atrocious, and no brand is proving that more than Sketchers.

Skechers Spotted Doubling Down on their AI Slop ad Campaign in NYC Subways from r/graphic_design

Last year, people started noticing that Skechers' new ads were looking a little different. From their strange, Gaussian-blurred faux illustration to their reality-bending backgrounds, the ads stank of AI slop, and creatives weren't happy.

Despite fierce backlash from designers calling the ads "tacky, unprofessional dross," it appears Skechers is continuing to use AI in its new campaigns, doubling down on the slop, much to the disapproval of creatives. The recent ads spotted on the NY subway feature bright paint splatters and AI-generated women in the same generic AI illustration style. With no consistent logo and uninspired visuals, creatives noted the distinct lack of care put into the ads, resulting in even more backlash.

"So instead of using a talented agency to do slick ads, they use AI and get a total inconsistent and cheap-looking mess that looks like it is for a (no disrespect) small shoe store," one critic on Reddit wrote. "It takes one illustrator one time to draw a perfect image, and then we can copy it over the whole world and print it everywhere forever, yet they are happy to remove that illustrator from the equation and think it's a huge productivity boost," another added.

For more AI news, check out the heated backlash over this AI otter logo, or take a look at why the AI caricature trend makes so many creatives uncomfortable.