Google has been forced to edit one of its Super Bowl advertisements after its Gemini AI tool displayed wildly inaccurate information about cheese consumption. The original commercial, posted on YouTube five days before the big game, showcased Google’s Gemini offerings in Workspace by featuring a small-business owner in Wisconsin. In the demonstration, Gemini confidently claimed that Gouda cheese accounts for “50 to 60% of the world’s cheese consumption” - a statistic that is demonstrably false.
The corrected version of the ad now shows a much more modest claim, stating that Gouda “is one of the most popular cheeses in the world.” According to a Google spokesperson, the company consulted with the business owner featured in the advertisement about how to handle the situation after questions arose about the Gouda statistic. The spokesperson explained that following the business owner’s suggestion to have Gemini rewrite the product description without the specific stat, Google updated the user interface to reflect what the business would actually do in practice.
The reality of cheese market share paints a very different picture. A report from IMARC Group, a global management consulting firm, indicates that cheddar cheese actually dominates the market with approximately 32.4% market share. Gouda didn’t even make the top five cheeses by market share in the report. Andrew Novakovic, the UV Baker professor of agricultural economics emeritus at Cornell University, confirmed to The Verge that Gouda “is almost assuredly not the most widely consumed” cheese globally.
Jerry Dischler, president of Cloud applications at Google Cloud, defended the AI’s response in a social media post, claiming it was “not a hallucination” but rather “grounded in the web.” He noted that “multiple sites across the web include the 50-60% stat,” including a website called Cheese.com. His response included cheese puns: “Gouda news: many love this cheese! Bada news: not everyone thinks it’s as grate.”
This incident is far from Google’s first AI accuracy problem. Last spring, Gemini provided dangerous advice to a photographer that could have destroyed their photos. In 2023, Google’s Bard chatbot incorrectly claimed the James Webb Space Telescope was first to photograph an exoplanet, when it was actually a telescope operated by the European Southern Observatory. The company’s AI Overviews feature also made headlines for suggesting users put glue in pizza sauce to prevent cheese from sliding off.
Key Quotes
Following his suggestion to have Gemini rewrite the product description without the stat, we updated the UI to reflect what the business would do.
A Google spokesperson explained how the company addressed the false Gouda statistic after consulting with the Wisconsin business owner featured in the ad, demonstrating Google’s reactive rather than proactive approach to AI accuracy.
In this case, multiple sites across the web include the 50-60% stat. Gouda news: many love this cheese! Bada news: not everyone thinks it’s as grate.
Jerry Dischler, president of Cloud applications at Google Cloud, defended Gemini’s false claim by noting it was based on web sources, highlighting the fundamental problem of AI systems amplifying online misinformation without fact-checking.
Gouda is almost assuredly not the most widely consumed cheese globally.
Andrew Novakovic, the UV Baker professor of agricultural economics emeritus at Cornell University, definitively debunked Gemini’s claim, providing expert verification that the AI’s confident assertion was completely inaccurate.
Our Take
This embarrassing episode reveals a fundamental flaw in Google’s AI strategy: prioritizing speed to market over accuracy. Launching a Super Bowl ad without verifying the AI-generated content demonstrates either inadequate testing or a troubling acceptance of AI errors as inevitable. The defense that Gemini was “grounded in the web” actually makes the problem worse - it confirms that Google’s AI will confidently repeat any misinformation it finds online, regardless of accuracy. The pattern of errors across Gemini, Bard, and AI Overviews suggests systemic issues rather than isolated incidents. For an advertising campaign reaching millions during the Super Bowl, this level of quality control failure is particularly concerning. It raises serious questions about whether Google’s rush to compete with OpenAI and other AI rivals is compromising the reliability that enterprise customers require.
Why This Matters
This Super Bowl ad mishap underscores a critical challenge facing the AI industry: the persistent problem of AI systems confidently presenting false information as fact. As Google deploys Gemini across its Workspace products for millions of business users, accuracy becomes paramount. The incident reveals that AI systems trained on web data can amplify misinformation rather than filter it out, even when that information appears on multiple websites.
For businesses considering AI adoption, this serves as a cautionary tale about over-reliance on AI-generated content without human verification. The fact that Google’s own promotional material contained such an obvious error raises questions about quality control processes at even the most sophisticated AI companies. The broader implications extend to consumer trust in AI tools being marketed for professional and business use. When AI confidently presents false statistics in a high-profile Super Bowl advertisement, it reinforces concerns about AI reliability in critical business decisions. This incident may slow enterprise adoption as companies recognize the need for robust fact-checking systems alongside AI deployment.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/google-super-bowl-ad-gemini-ai-gouda-cheese-2025-2