Blockchain.com has released a fully AI-generated
commercial for the 2025 NFL season that will begin running Sunday during the Cowboy's 2025 home opener.
The 15-second spot demonstrates the ease with which brands can produce lower-cost
video ads.
This is a first for the two companies -- combining AI technology and sports and featuring Rowdy, the team mascot.
The ad is scheduled to display on screens throughout the
AT&T Stadium for the remainder of the season. It also will air at fuel stations in Texas, and play on the Dallas Cowboy Television Network on game days.
The ad will also become
available for viewing on the Cowboys’ official website and Blockchain.com’s social media channels following its premiere.
Rowdy comes to life beyond the stadium, where fans
can see how he reacts off the field in a world where he manages his Blockchain.com wallet.
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The collaboration blends the spirit of sports and the future of finance,
encouraging fans to become empowered in their own financial journey.
James Maddison, Blockchain.com's head of marketing, worked with one creative, Supermassive,
but he wrote the script that anchored the entire ad.
Using that script, Supermassive fed a series of textual prompts into AI visual-generation tools, primarily using Runway
Frames, and Google's Imagen 4, both are AI-powered image generation models.
Each prompt produced an image, and roughly 300 images were generated. Maddison then reviewed each
and handpicked the visuals that best fit the story, and edited them as needed, which left about 50 final scene images.
Those 50 images were upscaled with the AI-upscaler Magnific, adding
roughly another 100 refined assets.
The upscaled frames were handed to the animation tool Kling, which turned each still into a short video clip.
This step involved many additional re-rolls
and about 200 extra AI iterations as the team tweaked timing, motion, and visual style until every clip performed correctly.
In total, the campaign ran through nearly 1,000 AI
“rolls” across image creation, upscaling, and animation.
All of the generated video clips -- hundreds in total -- were meticulously stitched together to form the final
advertisement.
Although AI is known for taking much less time to create, the ad took several weeks.
One of the advantages of AI video production is the lower
cost. "Traditional video shoots often run between $5,000 to $20,000+ per minute of content due to expenses like camera crews, equipment, and post-production," according to one estimate. "In contrast, AI-generated videos can cost as little as $5 to
$10 per minute, making it far more accessible for brands that need frequent, fast-turnaround content."
The Dallas Cowboys and Blockchain.com announced a first-of-its-kind
NFL-cryptocurrency partnership in 2022 -- the first time an NFL team entered the crypto space, according to a Blockchain.com spokesperson.
In this
multi-year partnership, Dallas Cowboys players and others collaborated with Blockchain.com to design exclusive fan experiences, including chances to win autographed memorabilia, crypto and game tickets through various Game Day
experiences, including Block That Kick, the Cowboys Math and plaza activations -- prioritizing financial education and integrating cryptocurrency into fan engagement.