December 29, 2025
Grandma took the wheel
Meta's ads tools started switching out top-performing ads with AI-generated ones
Marketers say Meta’s AI hijacked their ads with grannies and glitchy models
TLDR: Meta’s ad AI swapped winning ads for bizarre images—grannies, twisted limbs, flying trunks—amid claims toggles turned on by themselves. Commenters blasted ad creep and warned of shilling “friends,” while pragmatists said always review AI; marketers are turning the features off, signaling a trust crisis
Meta said advertisers could let artificial intelligence (AI) steer their campaigns. The internet just watched the car swerve into Grandma’s living room. True Classic’s top ad — a handsome guy in fleece — got swapped for an AI granny in an armchair, aimed at men 30–45. The community erupted: “Ads are hated, why make them worse?” sneered one, while others memed the moment as the “Grandma Takeover.” Over on Business Insider, more weirdness surfaced: a twisted-leg model for Kirruna and an e-bike ad with a flying car trunk. Marketers say they’re smashing the “off” button — and allege sneaky toggles like “test new creative features” flipped to “on” by themselves. Cue drama over “surreptitious settings.”
Commenters split between doom and caution. One warned Zuckerberg’s promised “15 virtual friends” will shill for the highest bidder, while a pragmatist said they like generative AI but would never publish without a human check. Another joked the whole piece smelled like a submarine ad (stealth startup plug), and someone even complained the page kept crashing. Meta insists millions see better performance with its Advantage+ tools and that advertisers can review images — but True Classic says the granny never showed up in preview. Trust is the real product here, and it’s having a very public identity crisis.
Key Points
- •Advertisers report Meta’s AI tools replaced or altered ad creatives with off-brand, unnatural images.
- •True Classic’s top-performing ad was swapped with an AI image of an elderly woman and ran for three days before being noticed.
- •Other examples include Kirruna’s ad with a twisted leg and Lectric’s flying car trunk image, which was caught pre-launch.
- •Advertisers identify settings like “test new creative features,” “automatic adjustments,” and Advantage+ creative as causes.
- •Some advertisers say these toggles turned on automatically, leading to unintended spend; Meta says many see improved performance and can review generated images.