Ram's New Midsize Pickup Is A Toyota Tacoma According To Its Own AI Slop T-Shirt Design
Companies need to leave art to human artists, not AI hallucinations. The latest example comes from a Ram t-shirt for sale in the brand's online merch store, but not for long after a Motor1 tweet called it out. The shirt in question featured a pickup truck in front of an American flag (with the wrong number of stars) and the words "Ram Power" underneath it. It's just the sort of shirt you'd expect Ram to sell, except there's one problem. The truck pictured is not a Ram, but a Toyota Tacoma with a Ram grill. I saw it myself before Ram took it down, and man do I regret not buying one while I had the chance for the comedic value.
This is the 2027 Ram 1500 Rumble Bee 392, the kind of flashy truck you'd expect to see on a shirt like this. Styling details vary between trims, but consistent elements include the rectangular headlights that narrow toward the center, are square on the sides, and the rectangular fog lights. Different models have different grill designs, but they all integrate with the headlights and turn signals. It's much flashier than a Tacoma, and would look great on a Ram t-shirt.
This is a 2019 Toyota Tacoma. While a competent truck, it's not nearly as muscular and flashy as a Ram. Note the round projector low beams and round fog lights. The hexagonal grill is separate from the headlights. The side markers come to a point and blend into the front fender flares. The Tacoma has a more pronounced Hofmeister kink in the rear side windows than the Ram. Other design elements are admittedly generic four-door pickup traits. Newer Tacomas are more squared-off and a bit more similar to the Ram 1500, but because it's AI slop, it chose a previous-generation model that's even less likely to be confused with a genuine Ram.
An alternative explanation
Then again, we know Stellantis is releasing 11 new models by 2030, including the return of the Dakota as a midsize pickup. With no existing mid-size pickup, one way to fast-track development would be to simply license the previous-generation Tacoma, slap in a Ram engine and grill, and call it a day. Both companies have a history of such partnerships. Toyota worked with BMW on the Supra. The Toyobaru twins are named for the collaboration between Toyota and Subaru on a sports coupe. Stellantis has done this as well, turning the Mazda Miata into the far less successful Fiat 124 Spyder. People complain that the modern Tacoma is too expensive, so why not sell the previous version at a discount with a Ram badge?
Because Toyota almost certainly wouldn't want to create a new competitor for itself. Dodge has already been caught posting AI slop of its own cars, so why should Ram be any different? This looks more like the AI slop t-shirts for the America 250 (without the white supremacist overtones, thank goodness) than an accidental leak about a future product. That's what Ram gets for not paying a human artist who can actually tell a Ram from a Toyota.