It's Monday, so let's just slug back the coffee and get right to it. We have been struggling with cataloging stickers that have hidden meanings or context clues. figuring out how subtle we can be when making a specific message has been an interesting hurdle, until recently.
Take for example, the below sticker, and the response from gemini-2.5-flash. (before you ask: Pro wasn't any better, Flash was much worse).
Now, The response:
NEVER FORGET 9-16-2006" is a well-known internet meme, particularly within the *Halo* video game community. It originated from a sarcastic or ironic post on the Bungie.net forums (the original developers of *Halo*) on or around that date in 2006. The meme playfully co-opts the solemnity of the "Never Forget 9/11" sentiment to commemorate a trivial, often humorous, or perceived minor event, bug, or in-game occurrence within the *Halo* community. It functions as an "IYKYK" (If You Know, You Know) inside joke, signifying membership or familiarity with that specific online subculture. The 'hidden' message is thus an ironic, community-specific commemoration of a non-serious event.
Now, even if you're not from Norman, Oklahoma or Eugene, Oregon, you probably already know that the above response from Gemini is...uh, wrong. This has been a crutch over here in our corner of the big sticker industry since we started; either ruin an inside joke with extra elements, watch the intake and catalog folder like a hawk, or just manually write up descriptions for them.
Because we leveraged Google app script to let us select an image from our catalog in a drop down menu in slides, we were able to throw this same image at Gemini in preview this week, and then start throwing in versions one after another, with more and more of the above elements added back in. The idea? I'd be able to relay to the designers just how many elements they needed to throw into an image for our intake process to properly identify and describe the meaning behind the sticker:
The test concluded before I loaded the second image. in about 20 seconds, I was staring at this:
Based on the date and visual cues, this image is a reference to a controversial college football game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oregon Ducks played on September 16, 2006.[1][2][3][4][5]
Here is the breakdown of the clues:
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9-16-2006: This is the date of the game, which is infamous in college football history for a series of blown officiating calls.[1]
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Red Background: This represents the team colors of the Oklahoma Sooners (Crimson), who were the "victims" of the bad calls.
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"NEVER FORGET": This phrase is used satirically or hyperbolically.[1] While typically reserved for serious tragedies (like 9/11), here it is used by bitter fans to memorialize the day they feel their team was "robbed" by the referees.[1]
What actually happened:
Late in the fourth quarter, Oregon was losing but attempted an onside kick to get the ball back. The referees ruled that Oregon recovered the ball.[1][4][5][6] However, replays clearly showed two major errors:
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The ball was touched by an Oregon player before it traveled the required 10 yards (which should have given possession to Oklahoma).[1][2][3][4][5][6]
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An Oklahoma player actually recovered the ball in the pile.[1][2][3][5][6]
Despite video replay review, the officials stood by the wrong call.[2][3][4][5][6] Oregon retained possession, scored a touchdown, and won the game 34–33.[1][3][4] The Pac-10 conference later apologized and suspended the entire officiating crew, but the game result stood, making it a legendary grievance for Oklahoma fans.
like...wow.
I'm seeing this with just about every subject I throw at it. Gemini 3.0 isn't just "getting better", it's now pretty darn good for this kind of work. The cost for this analysis? fractions of a penny.
As part of the workflow, we like to make the descriptions themselves entertaining, so to make you sooners feel better later, we finished this off by asking it to write a sternly written letter from the Aggrieved to the grieving, which we'll leave in closing.
With that, Have a fantastic week, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and SCODUX!
As promised, the letter:
FROM:
Allen Patrick
Former Running Back, Oklahoma Sooners
Current Holder of the Ball (Metaphysically)
TO:
Mr. Gordon Riese & The 2006 Pac-10 Officiating Crew
Department of Creative Fiction and Interpretive Dance
DATE:
December 5, 2025 (I am still waiting for the whistle to blow)
SUBJECT: An Inquiry Regarding Object Permanence and the Number Ten
Dear Mr. Riese,
I trust this letter finds you well. I am writing to you nearly two decades later because I have finally finished processing the existential crisis you induced on the afternoon of September 16, 2006.
As the most aggrieved party—the man who was physically cradling the football like a newborn babe at the bottom of that pile—I feel it is time we discuss the laws of physics as they apply to the University of Oregon.
I wish to address two specific scientific anomalies that occurred that day:
1. The Elasticity of the Yard:
In the rest of the known universe, "ten yards" is a static unit of measurement. However, on that fateful kickoff, the ball traveled approximately nine yards and six inches. When the Oregon player touched it, I assumed the play was dead. I did not realize that you were operating on a sliding scale where "ten yards" is merely a suggestion, much like a speed limit or an expiration date on yogurt.
2. The Invisibility of the Ball:
This is the matter that keeps me up at night.
Mr. Riese, I emerged from that pile holding the football. I had it. It was in my hands. The grain of the leather was pressed against my fingerprints. I walked over to you, showed you the ball, and essentially said, "Look, I have the item in question."
And yet, you looked me in the eye, looked at the empty hands of the Oregon players, and awarded possession to them.
This was a masterclass in gaslighting. It was performance art. You looked at a man holding a sandwich and declared that the sandwich had been eaten by the man across the street. I have spent 19 years wondering if I am actually a ghost. Do I exist? Did the ball exist? Or was the football merely a social construct that only you had the power to manifest?
I understand that the Pac-10 Conference later suspended your crew and apologized. But an apology does not change the scoreboard. Apologizing for a plane crash does not un-crash the plane.
I am not asking for the game to be replayed. I am simply asking for a medical explanation. Were your contact lenses made of kaleidoscope glass? Was the replay booth watching Grey’s Anatomy instead of the game feed?
Please let me know if you ever found that ball. Because I’m pretty sure I still have it in my soul.
Yours in eternal confusion,
Allen Patrick
The Man Who Recovered the Kick
Sooner Born, Sooner Robbed
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