Coca-Cola’s AI-generated holiday ad goes flat with viewers

Last Updated on November 25, 2024

Just when you thought The Polar Express was the creepiest thing about the holiday seasons, Coca-Cola enters the chat with an almost entirely AI-generated holiday commercial. As you can imagine, it has gone over about as well as New Coke. But before we go any further, you should check out the video, which is embedded below:

So we’ve got the usual Christmas staples in reindeer, snow and Santa – along with Coca-Cola’s trademark polar bears – but it won’t take perfect vision to notice just how phony all of it is, something that viewers have called the company out on in fervor. Some have stamped the ad as lifeless and hollow, while others have blasted Coca-Cola for its lack of creativity and snubbing actual artists of work. Oddly enough, the only part that looks organic – even at the animation level – is the iconic Coca-Cola font, although that’s primarily because generative AI didn’t have the capabilities to reproduce it. For the ad, Coca-Cola approached three different studios – Secret Level, Silverside AI and Wild Card – to deliver their best work…and this is what came of it, with the “winner” spending the better part of their day punching in key phrases just to end up with that dog. Look, there is something artificial about Christmas, but this takes it to a bizarre and off-putting level.

In a statement, a rep wrote, “The Coca-Cola Company has celebrated a long history of capturing the magic of the holidays in content, film, events and retail activations for decades around the globe. We are always exploring new ways to connect with consumers and experiment with different approaches. This year, we crafted films through a collaboration of human storytellers and the power of generative AI. Coca-Cola will always remain dedicated to creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technology.”

Coca-Cola is also actively promoting Create Real Magic, which lets you generate an AI scene inside of a snow globe, provided you’re super into the holiday spirit…which I was not, just to test the waters. I tried to make Santa recreate the scene from The Simpsons’ “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” in which Bart accidentally burns the Christmas tree down and buries the presents in the yard but this was a little too risque for Ol’ Saint Nick, who prompted me with, “Oh dear, that sounds like quite an unexpected holiday adventure! Let’s flip the switch to a happy memory. Can you tell me about a moment of kindness you experienced during the holidays? Perhaps a shared laugh with family or a cozy gathering with friends?” So there are limits to AI!

For their part, Coca-Cola has also produced a live-action counterpart titled “Holiday Road”, which is immensely more human and emotional if not just because it features real people. Your move, Pepsi…

What do you make of Coca-Cola’s AI-generated holiday commercial? Is there value in what they’ve produced?