🚲 Tour de Farce

June 30, 2026

The good news: REI is still selling bikes. The bad news: Meta’s AI tried to invent a new cycling category. 

An Instagram ad showed a Van Rysel bike with two sets of handlebars, prompting Reddit to roast the co-op for serving AI slop in hiking socks. REI says Meta’s ad tool automatically tweaked a real photo shoot into an “inappropriate alteration.” 

Congrats to AI for making outdoor retail feel less like Patagonia and more like Chernobyl Etsy.

Check out the ad in action here.