AI-Powered Holiday Ad Earns Coca-Cola some Backlash
People are not impressed with Coke’s AI-generated polar bears.
Coca-Cola became the latest major brand on the receiving end of backlash for its use of AI in its marketing, catching heat for this year’s technology-fueled remake of its classic 1995 spot, “Holidays Are Coming.”
The ad is being criticized for its lack of human-made work, a common critique of how AI technology is used in commercial work. The ad also features inconsistencies—like the wheels on Coke trucks not spinning and people that appear to be larger than the trucks
The 30-second spot features people walking through the streets in scarves and knit hats, holding bottles of Coke, while big red Coca-Cola trucks drive past, and deer, polar bears, and other animals frolic in the snow.
As it ushers in the holiday season with this AI-heavy content, the brand has also opened itself up to quite a bit of criticism. as seen below:
“Coca Cola using ai for an ad is genuinely so terrifying to me. Art is dying,” wrote one user on X. “Actors, replaced. Camera workers, replaced. Drivers, replaced. Designers, replaced. Soulless.”
“we’re living in the worst timeline,” added another.
“It shows how lifeless that Christmas commercial is,” one TikToker said. “It has no idea what the Christmas feeling is all about. It has no idea how to reproduce that type of joy that we get in the December season.
“It’s less festive, more creepy holiday vibes,” another TikToker said.
“Honestly the worst part is them saying ‘real magic’ at the end of the ad,” said another TikToker, adding that the ad “ruined Christmas and their entire brand.”
“AI is going to steal so many jobs, and a company like Coca-Cola actually using it and endorsing it is very bad for the rest of the world,” the same TikToker continued. “Why hire any animators or directors when you could type whatever you want into the real magic AI and get an entire commercial?”
A Coca-Cola spokesperson tells TODAY.com that this year’s holiday ads were crafted with a collaboration of human storytellers and the “power” of generative AI.
“Coca-Cola has long been at the cutting-edge of advertising, marketing and innovation, and we remain dedicated to creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technological advancements,” the spokesperson says.
They also point out that the AI-generated ad is just one of the ads Coca-Cola plans on debuting this season, sharing a more traditional holiday ad called “Holiday Road,” which includes real actors and surroundings.
