The ibiza invented by Joma for its shoes for the Santa Eulària Ibiza Marathon, the eighth edition of the race, is still there. It was supposed to be a mistake and that the sportswear company was going to replace it soon. But no. It’s still there.
With the bamba in the foreground, the name of the island on the heel and, in the background, what is supposed to be Ibiza, but might not be: the sea and a beach with mansions on a hill, a piece of cliff with vegetation and…. the horror. An unrecognizable rock that pretends to be es Vedrà and some little white houses that should be Dalt Vila, but are not. With how easy it is to find images of the old town, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site, no less. Well, no. The rock and the old town resemble the real ones like an egg to a chestnut. And the brand assured at the presentation that with the sneaker it had “tried to capture the essence of Ibiza”.
That it is not Ibiza did not go unnoticed by those who saw the publication in social networks. Some criticized them for using Artificial Intelligence to design the creativity of the advertising of the sneakers. Some even pointed out that it looks more like Calpe than Ibiza.
That same afternoon, from the Consell de Ibiza, partner of the race along with all the municipalities of the island except Sant Josep, as read on the official website of the race, said that it was a mistake made by the brand and that soon they would change it for an image that would correspond to Ibiza. However, two weeks have already passed since the presentation of the shoe and the false image of Ibiza still appears on social networks.
This is not the first time that AI messes up with the island. Brands and institutions do not learn. A few months ago more than a few residents were astonished to discover, at Ibiza airport, some promotional panels of the island in which no one was able to recognize the image that claimed to be Dalt Vila. In the case of the airport panels, the Ibiza Town Hall demanded the company, which is dedicated to advertising, to remove the images, something they did with brevity. In this case, despite the promise of haste, they have not yet done so.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.