Sportsnet ripped for bizarre Stanley Cup promo using AI to turn announcers into babies

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Perhaps the Sportsnet braintrust ran out of material to pump up a much-anticipated Stanley Cup final.

Or perhaps they were sticking with the idea that lame attempts at humour were both in keeping with some of the jocularity the crew is known for and somehow endearing to a national audience awaiting the best-of-seven repeat showdown between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.

But whatever Sportsnet was thinking in using a bizarre artificial intelligence social media post seemed like a spectacularly bad idea.

Unless, of course, the idea was to go the parody route to mock their own on-air talent, which seems to be the end result.

If you missed it, on Wednesday afternoon, some seven hours before the emotional and much-hyped puck drop in Edmonton for the series opener, Sportsnet dropped a social media bomb on X.

And by “bomb” we mean an intended promo piece that did the opposite and bombed.

“Oh Baby, the Stanley Cup Final sequel is here,” the post proclaimed, followed by a baby emoji and a trophy emoji.

What followed, was a 66-second clip with the voices of Ron MacLean, Elliotte Friedman, Kevin Bieksa and Kelly Hrudey over AI-created characters that were — you guessed it — babies.

While it may have caused the odd chuckle, an attempt at irreverence was instead immature at best. In particular, there were a couple examples of the commentators tripping over there words and another where Friedman was, shall we say, all chocked up.

Mercifully, the bit didn’t run in its entire on the broadcast, though a brief clip of it aired during one of the intermissions with what seems to be a sheepish reaction from some of the participants.

AI-generated babies mocking your own talent? What could go wrong?

Not surprisingly, the segment drew widespread criticism from fans and social media users, including former ESPN commentator Keith Olbermann who rather succinctly made his point.

“Just stop with this crap,” Olbermann posted on X.

Other users were just as harsh in their criticism of the clip and of Sportsnet.

“This stuff is just so stupid. I’m so sick and tired of everybody thinking let’s take all the trends and use them,” another user on X replied. “Create your own trend instead. And stop using AI for this kind of stuff. Post real content.”

“Stop the AI bulls*** please. Your normal hosts are bad enough,” a third user wrote.

“This is pathetic. Nobody asked for this. They can do 100 different broadcasts and this is what it boils down to?” one user on Reddit wrote. “The NHL is the hardest league to play in … and they promote it with this garbage.”