A real cock-up in the annals of Muni advertising, as users noted what appeared to be a holographic penis on the side of a bus, though it’s just an AI company ad that may have been approved willy-nilly.

In San Francisco’s dawning new AI phase, we have certainly seen a lot of billboards that make little sense to a normal human being. But the latest AI advertisement to confuse and bewilder San Franciscans is a real package deal.


As seen above, the Chronicle reports that a holographic AI ad on the side of a Muni bus appears to be a giant penis. The above image was tweeted Wednesday, and Muni, not sure whether the dick-like appearance of the ad was intentional, has since pulled that bus from service.


In fact, Muni's parent agency SFMTA seems as puzzled by this prick-resembling ad as anyone. “By chance, did you happen to get the four-digit bus number?” the agency asked, before pounding out more follow-up questions.


The Chronicle has determined the ad is from an AI website-building tool called Framer, which is not SF-based, but headquartered in the Netherlands. SFist has determined the image is not meant to be a giant dick, and legitimately was an innocent ad that just displayed very poorly in the context it was seen here.

Screenshot: capitoloutdoor via Instagram

This Instagram post from Capitol Outdoor Advertising shows what is almost the exact same ad. It’s a Framer campaign called “Just publish it with Framer.” Notice the finger placed next to a chevron-shaped button, the same chevron-shaped button seen in the Muni ad. The ad has apparently run in San Francisco before, but in that context of the ad being fully visible on a billboard, people were not confusing the finger for a big ol’ wiener.


Still, someone probably ought to have double-checked this before it went on the side of a Muni bus, which is a different type of canvas with tire wells and such cropping the advertisement. And this may not be great PR for Framer, whose business is to build public-facing marketing materials.

Not to be a dick, but that does not appear to be a dick in the now-pulled Muni ad. Though this was definitely a boner by someone in the ad sales chain, who got this advertisement campaign into a sticky situation.  

Related: Muni Fans Losing Their Lunch Over Lunchables Ad Blitz, Now Wrapped Around Buses All Over Town [SFist]

Image: @studio_daddy via Twitter