Kalshi’s Bizarre AI-Powered NBA Finals Ad Goes Viral, May Have Just Redefined Commercials Forever
The age of polished, big-budget commercials might be over — and it’s being replaced by a surreal, meme-soaked reality powered entirely by artificial intelligence.
During Game 3 of the NBA Finals, sports betting marketplace Kalshi aired what might be the most bizarre commercial ever to hit primetime. A farmer floating in a pool of eggs. An alien pounding beer. An old man wrapped in the American flag yelling “Indiana gonna win baby!”
As if it wasn’t outrageous enough — it was built in just three days and maybe the clearest signal yet that artificial intelligence is about to reshape the digital ad industry.
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This isn’t a fever dream — the latest NBA Finals commercial is now going viral across every corner of the internet.
The 30-second ad stunned viewers not just for its unhinged, Grand Theft Auto-style chaos — but because it was produced entirely using Google’s newest AI video generator, Veo 3, for a mere $2,000. The spot, which ends with the tagline “The world’s gone mad. Trade it,” is already tracking toward 20 million impressions across TV and social media.
At the center of the storm is PJ Accetturo, a rising name in what’s quickly becoming a new creative class: the AI filmmaker. According to a viral X (formerly Twitter) thread, Accetturo was approached by Kalshi to make the “most unhinged NBA Finals commercial possible.” Rather than shooting anything live, he wrote the script with help from Gemini and ChatGPT, generated over 400 video clips with Veo 3, and stitched together the most bizarre scenes imaginable into a high-energy montage.
“I always tell it to return 5 prompts at a time—any more than that and the quality starts to slip,” he wrote on X. “Each prompt should fully describe the scene as if Veo 3 has no context of the shot before or after it. Re-describe the setting, the character, and the tone every time to maintain consistency.”
“They love GTA VI. I grew up in Florida. This idea wrote itself,” he added.
Characters included a “rizzed-out grandpa headed to the club,” a woman in front of a pickup truck with a cooler labeled “fresh manatee,” and a chorus of outlandish declarations like “I’m all in on OKC.”
The creative process of just three days is a timeline nearly unheard of in traditional production. According to Kalshi, that was part of the appeal. After being quoted six- and seven-figure sums by conventional ad firms, the company turned to AI, hired Accetturo, and ended up with a product that’s now reshaping expectations for both cost and content.
“We were not specifically looking for an AI video at first, but after getting quotes from production companies that were in the six or seven figure range with timelines that didn’t fit our needs, we decided to experiment, and that’s when we made the decision to go with AI and hire PJ,” the Kalshi spokesperson told BI. “Given the success of this first ad, we are absolutely planning on doing more with AI.”
And they’re not alone. The ad’s runaway success illustrates how AI is upending the digital advertising industry, compressing production cycles, slashing costs, and opening creative possibilities that defy traditional constraints. Industry analysts expect AI-powered ad production to be one of the biggest disruptors in marketing in 2025, with generative video tools like Veo 3, Runway, and Pika leading the charge.
Even Accetturo, who previously directed live-action content, says the economics of AI filmmaking are too good to ignore.
“I make way more as an AI director now than I did from live-action contracts,” he said. “The client got an insane ad for a great rate on a blistering timeline, and I got paid really well, while working in my underwear.”
The result is a seismic shift in how agencies and brands view creativity and efficiency. Where million-dollar commercials used to require months of planning and armies of crew members, Kalshi’s $2,000 blitz ad suggests a future where speed, virality, and absurdity win — and where the best content might just be born from a mad prompt list and a few hours at a laptop.
That future is closer than ever. In a year dominated by AI-generated music videos, product demos, and now nationally televised sports ads, the Kalshi commercial isn’t an outlier — it’s a warning shot. Or, depending on who you ask, it’s a creative revolution.
