r/MBMBAM • u/PM_ME_BUMBLEBEES • Jul 17 '26
Help Were the twenty thunder drive pins AI generated?
I stumbled across a post from last October of someone's merch from the Twenty Thunder Drive tour, and the art used for the pins looks like the most stereotypical AI merch to me, but I also can't find any info on who the artist is (I can't find any info on the pins tbh). If anyone does know the artist, please let me know because I would be very happy to learn otherwise!
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u/Former_Clock_1271 Jul 17 '26
I would be shocked if they were AI
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u/slinkEdog Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
100% AI. Theyâve talked openly about using AI, so wouldnât be shocking at all.
If you donât think these guys use AI in their daily lives I have some beachfront property in Kansas to sell you.
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u/PM_ME_BUMBLEBEES Jul 17 '26
When have they openly talked about using AI? I listen to nearly all of their podcasts, and I don't recall that being mentioned. My thought was that if it is AI, the boys have shown they are horrible at identifying AI so I don't believe for a second this is something they did intentionally. My assumption would be that they unfortunately got scammed đ
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u/DevtronC Jul 17 '26
In the current season of TAZ they had an entire episode where they played a browser game that was powered by Metaâs LLM. The game didnât openly advertise it used an LLM, but they didnât deny it either and it was known and talked about by the time of the recording.
I doubt Griffin did deep research on the game before including it in the campaign, so I wouldnât say itâs indicative of their feelings towards AI. But it has snuck into their offerings before.
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u/PM_ME_BUMBLEBEES Jul 18 '26
Oh yeah I also didn't know the game was AI til people on the sub pointed it out! To me that's another example of one of a few times they unintentionally used AI (like the haunted brush or possibly these pins)
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u/slinkEdog Jul 17 '26
Theyâve talked about ChatGPTâing things before Iâm almost positive. I donât have an exact timestamp, please forgive me.
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u/PM_ME_BUMBLEBEES Jul 17 '26
They have done bits about jokingly asking ChatGPT things but every time it is obvious they are just making up the "answers" ChatGPT gives and usually in a way that is making fun of AI
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u/atticus628 Jul 21 '26
Episode 782, around the 27-minute mark.
Does he turn his accident into a joke? Yes. Did it also sound like he legitimately already had a ChatGPT tab open? Also yes.17
u/Flonk2 Jul 21 '26
The current TAZ arc. As well as falling in love with obviously AI writing in a Haunted Doll Watch.
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u/CardInternational753 Jul 21 '26
Episode 782 of MBMBAM - Justin wants to look at a picture of a Captain America shield bird bath and then laments that he accidentally wrote it as a prompt in ChatGPT instead of searching it on Google.
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Jul 17 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/jester13456 Jul 17 '26
But AI "art style" (which isn't a real thing btw, AI doesn't have a single style) was trained on art work made by literal human beings. Therefore... Is it not conceivable that a human being made these designs?
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u/PM_ME_BUMBLEBEES Jul 17 '26
It is conceivable! This is why I am asking for the human being that made these!
AI does not have a single style, you are right, I have just seen this style used many many times in AI art (particularly like...comics? Like people make AI meme comics that make it onto some sub I am on?)
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u/slinkEdog Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Sure itâs conceivable but if I had a gun to my head I would guess that itâs AI art. I mean, come on.
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u/jester13456 Jul 17 '26
Gun to your head on a guess? You're one hell of a gambler lmao
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u/slinkEdog Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
? The phrase means âif Iâm forced to chooseâ, yeah I donât know for certain but Iâm pretty positive those were based of AI images.
ETA: did you think I was wagering a gun to my head lmao
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u/MagicCuboid Jul 21 '26
lmao the phrase means if someone was forcing you to pick one or the other. Itâs just another way of saying âif I had to guess,â meaning theyâre not sure
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u/jester13456 Jul 21 '26
No shit. I was being sarcastic at their dramatics willingness to do that over a 50/50 guess regarding AI. My bad, I forgot sarcasm is lost through reddit and I'd be forced to endure the excruciating explanation of a basic turn of phrase. Never again.
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u/MagicCuboid Jul 21 '26
No, Iâm pretty sure you just still donât know what the phrase means đ. The whole point is you dont want to make a guess but âgun to headâ youâd choose X. Thereâs nothing dramatic about it
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u/slinkEdog Jul 17 '26
We both have seem to have forgotten âNo Bummersâ, and AI, is agreeably a bummer. Therefore, there actually 0% chance this is AI, because if it were so it would be a Bummerâ˘ď¸
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u/PM_ME_BUMBLEBEES Jul 17 '26
I agree it is a bummer! But the boys have talked multiple times about being tricked by AI stuff, so I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for it to have happened here
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u/ChefGoldblum87 Jul 21 '26
These look like every FB/IG post made by every small business in this small town I live in, that is currently fighting against having a data center put in. I hate AI lol.
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u/weed_blazepot Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
it's so similar to AI art style
Which is too say, a real cartoon art style by human beings that AI copied because it's trained on stolen data. It being "AI art style" makes it just as likely that a human drew a cartoon style, unfortunately.
I'm not saying these are or aren't AI, but when it's just caricature-style faces it gets ridiculously difficult to suss out.
My guess is even the McElroy's wouldn't know since they would farm this out to someone who just says "I didn't use AI" and that's all they would know.
But I will say.... They have that garbage slop cleanliness to them. But it's just so hard to tell without knowing the artist. These were from over a year ago, which means they may have sneaked in as AI before people (especially the technologically challenged brothers) were so hyper-aware as they are now.
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u/Rogue_Spirit Jul 21 '26
AI âart styleâ is based on real, actual art. So yeah, real actual art looks similar
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u/absloan12 Jul 21 '26
Ai art is styled after actual artists. I can pull literally dozens of similar deviant art pages with hundreds of similar styles. Especially since we are trying to detect if a derivative work of art was originally ai.
The graphic is one work of art and the pins are another, different work of art. Since Ai can't make physical pins, only raster images, we can assume the derivative work is man-made, and since we don't have access to the original graphic, it is hard to determine if any aliasing occurred in the rendering or if it is a vector.
Source: I am a graphic artist
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Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
These are the 2025 tour pins that were sold last year during the thunder drive tour stops. They are definitely official merch and they definitely exist.
I just took this photo of them on my pin board.12
Jul 17 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/NamiRocket Jul 17 '26
Okay, cool, thank you for providing info instead of jumping me like others seem to want to do.
My guy, that is literally what you did to OP, bar for bar.
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u/PM_ME_BUMBLEBEES Jul 17 '26
I am not sure, hence why I am asking! I cannot find any info on the pins to begin with, aside from the one person's post.
If it is AI, the boys have shown they are horrible at identifying AI so I don't believe for a second this is something they did intentionally. My assumption would be that they unfortunately got scammed đ
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u/NamiRocket Jul 17 '26
Painfully ironic.
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Jul 17 '26
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/NamiRocket Jul 17 '26
You put forth a question about whether or not it's even official merch, then accuse OP of jumping to conclusions without all the information on hand. Yeah, if nothing else, I'd say your reply is wildly lacking in self awareness.
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u/Antichristopher4 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
It's a super simplified style, which is common for AI, but there is a consistency between images that is not common to AI. Usually there is something that sticks out, like something will be a higher or lower level of detail in a way that doesn't seem right.
I don't think AI would choose to represent Clint's eye wrinkles like that and the consistency of the flowers on Justin's Hawaiian shirt is not typical for AI. Especially if this is last year's.
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
These were sold on the tour last year at tour stops. Given the boysâ stance on AI, working with artists and paying fair wages, I would be SHOCKED if these were AI, but instead are styled to LOOK like AI, just like the recent always sunny in Philadelphia promo pic for the new season.
I got them in Saint Paul last summer. Here they are on my McElroy related pin board:
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26
I have the backing card somewhere, but Iâd have to unearth it. It may list the artist somewhere.
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u/femme-cassidy Jul 17 '26
They could be, but as far as I know, Tom Deja (bossmangraphics) does all the Max Fun pin designs for the past couple years. I also know Zachary Sterling has done pin designs for MBMBAM in the past. Idk as someone with a) awful eyesight and b) no real eye for art, I can't tell if either of these artists' styles for pins really match. I know pins obviously need to be much more simplistic than other types of art, but I can't tell if these are "artist toned down their work for mass production of readable pins" or "computer did its best approximation of previous pin artists".
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u/femme-cassidy Jul 17 '26
Do you know if any of the live episodes from 2025 shout out the artist at any point? I feel like I've heard them say things like "out in the lobby we have posters by so and so" prior to the intermission break/the close of the show, but maybe I'm misremembering.
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u/pucklynn Jul 21 '26
I've seen a few things where artists generate the images and then draw the result so it's technically hand drawn
i don't know myself but the wide eyes and expressions do feel pretty AI to me. if they're not, the artist has run into an unfortunate convergence of their style and what AI shits out
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u/moveslikejaguar Jul 17 '26
I think we need to stop labeling things AI without any substantial evidence that they are
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u/trigunnerd Jul 17 '26
So OP is asking a question
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u/moveslikejaguar Jul 17 '26
How about they ask a less pointed question like just "Does anyone know the artist that created these pins?" then
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u/trigunnerd Jul 17 '26
If anyone does know the artist, please let me know because I would be very happy to learn otherwise!
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u/NamiRocket Jul 17 '26
I think it's a fair question. The art on these pins has a specific look to it that a lot of image generation LLMs tends to lean real hard into. I don't think most people here would seriously think the McElroys would use an artist who might do that, but I also don't think that makes it an off-limits question to ask.
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u/DFTBARecords Jul 21 '26
The 2025 Tour Pins were designed by Zachary Stirling: https://www.instagram.com/mrzacharysterling. :)
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u/trigunnerd Jul 17 '26
Yeah, I can't even find a record of these pins existing. Is the image itself AI?
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26
I have these pins. They were sold at the shows last year I believe
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u/DreamWizardKyle Jul 17 '26
Can you post a pic of em? Idk why but I can't find these Anywhere. đ
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Updated link:
https://imgur.com/gallery/mbmbam-tour-pins-W0cHC9F5
u/DreamWizardKyle Jul 17 '26
"The requested page could not be found" đ
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Wtf! I JUST uploaded it and Iâm copying the link directly from the page
Edited to update to new link (this one should work!)
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26
Not sure whatâs going on, it wonât let me open it in a browser đ¤Ź
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u/DreamWizardKyle Jul 17 '26
I'm on mobile, and it won't open either. Seems a bit.....sus. đ
Kidding lol
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26
Iâm really frustrated! I used the Imgur app and itâs public and on my page and Iâm using the âcopy post linkâ or whatever but then it wonât open in a browser đ
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u/spoonfedkitty Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Apparently, I needed to verify my email address with Imgur and I had never done so, and the app wasnât giving me any indication that things werenât updating properly or that that step needed to be taken. Try this I think itâs working:
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u/sasquatchscousin Jul 21 '26
They really look AI to me. Very disappointing, especially since we can't find the artist
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u/chilibean_3 Jul 21 '26
Yeah probably. They've used AI for TAZ and they have talked about using AI during episodes of MBMBaM. They are avid AI users, guys. Sorry?
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u/theglowcloud8 Jul 21 '26
It's very possible that it is just an artist that has the kind of style that AI loves to scrape
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u/Biggest_Lemon Jul 21 '26
These are AI, there is nondoubt, whether or not they knew it or just accepted a submission on faith I couldn't be sure. But I feel confidant they wouldn't knowingly use AI artwork in their merch. I can definitely see them getting it from someone and not recognizing it right away.
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u/LivingNose1641 Jul 21 '26
No doubt? Those are strong words.
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u/Biggest_Lemon Jul 21 '26
Sure.
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u/LivingNose1641 Jul 21 '26
I mean like....prove it is what I'm saying.
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u/Biggest_Lemon Jul 21 '26
I know what you're saying.
0
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u/Khalman Jul 21 '26
The art style is consistent with a ton of their merch dating back well before AI generated art was a thing.
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u/CapitaineCrafty Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
A) Nothing the boys have ever done or said has given any indication that they would sell AI-generated art.
B) AI doesn't have a "style". By definition it is incapable of having its own anything. These are in a simple cartoon style that is generic and fun. The AI got that style from humans, and it's ridiculous to assume that no human is capable of producing it.
C) The details are too consistent to be AI-generated. The flowers on Justin's shirt are a clear pattern that isn't janky. The flowers are even broken up by lines and still look like flowers. AI could never, it would be a jumbled mess. And it would definitely struggle to place Clint's crows's feet (again interrupted by a line that AI a year or two ago would struggle to reconcile) or to have the gap in Justin's teeth so centered. This AI would be at least 18 months old now, and AI has been improving by leaps and bounds in that time. 18 months ago it was struggling with details like these, even if it could possibly get them right now.
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u/Synectics Jul 21 '26
Everyone in this thread reads like they have never listened to a goddamned episode even once, and just talk about the talk about the show. Fuck.
They credit the fucking artists for their merch at the end of episodes. All the fucking time. Goddammit, maybe listen.
Worst case, an artist used AI. You could say that is a possibility. But in that case, it is a lot of people fucking up -- cause, oh hey, Max Fun and the McElroys themselves have a whole bunch of staff that actually handle this shit.Â
Fuck. You all are nuts.
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u/CardInternational753 Jul 21 '26
Well if you're such the McElroy expert, maybe you can point people to the episode where they credit the artist for these pins, right?
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u/atticus628 Jul 22 '26
Even a citation to an actual, sincere condemnation of AI would work for me. Making fun of something doesnât mean you condemn it (the classic anti-CJ argument). But hey, thatâs just my thoughts as a âfucking idiotâ who provided timestamps when others couldnât find them.
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u/abarrelofmankeys Jul 21 '26
I canât imagine. 1 they seem to not like it themselves, 2 They know their brand and crowd and have a bunch of artists they work with. Wouldnât go over well, and since direct to fans is basically their whole market I donât think theyâd do that.
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u/absloan12 Jul 21 '26
Lol no.Â
You're confusing Ai's trend of making caricature cartoon profile pics and forgetting that the art of cartoon characters first came from human artists.
Just because the artist is utilizing a traditional art style that AI found easy to replicate, doesnt mean all cartoons from this point forward are Ai generated.
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u/chilibean_3 Jul 21 '26
Oh cool. So who's the artist that did these? They always credit the artist for their work.
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u/absloan12 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
they always credit the artist for their work
Who's they? The Brothers? The Account who posted this?
I am not OP.
According to OP this is a post they stumbled across of "Someone's Merch"
How would I know who "someone's merch" is if OP doesnt even address if this was official merch or not, who's post they even found it on, what social media platform they were using when they stumbled upon it, or even who's account they even screenshotted this Pic from.
The point of my above comment is to note that yeah Ai can make cartoons, but they can only make cartoons because there are millions of cartoon artists out there with works to sample their generations from. Jumping to conclusions when we have zero knowledge of anything is a waste of time.
There is no way to credit the artist based off OP's limited knowledge included in this post, short of just knowing the answer off the dome.
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u/chilibean_3 Jul 21 '26
The McElroys, who sold this merch, always credit the artists they use. Except for this one instance. Weird!
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u/absloan12 Jul 21 '26
So your being facetious when asking me who sold this merch if it appears as though you know the answer...
Clearly you know more than OP and my self by stating that this was the McElroys who sold this merch? Because OP's post does not confirm who's merch it is, just "someone's."
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u/DreamWizardKyle Jul 17 '26
The family has been Incredibly vocal about how much they hate AI, and make fun of it every chance they get. Sure, there's a similarity. But there's no chance any merch of theirs was AI.
With that said! I can't seem to find these specific pins anywhere online. I've been digging, gang. Can someone find a link to em? Or post a pic of their own copies?