Coca-cola’s New Ai Holiday Ad Is A Sloppy Eyesore

Look astatine each those blobby bunnies.

Coca-Cola is erstwhile again utilizing generative AI to reimagine its classical Coke caravan vacation commercials, and successful doing so, sidesplitting immoderate of nan festive joyousness you person for nan brand. After receiving backlash for airing 3 AI-generated vacation commercials past twelvemonth that featured gliding wheels and uncanny-looking faces, nan institution has doubled down pinch a caller AI Christmas run that’s much visually jarring than nan first.

The “Holidays Are Coming” commercialized attempts to sidestep issues astir generating realistic humans by alternatively featuring a formed of various critters. There’s nary accordant style, switching betwixt attempted realism and a bug-eyed toony look, and nan polar bears, panda, and sloth move unnaturally, for illustration level images that person been sloppily animated alternatively than rigged 3D models successful CG. Compared to nan convincing deepfake videos being generated by devices for illustration OpenAI’s Sora 2 aliases Google’s Veo 3, nan videos produced for this Coke advertisement consciousness highly dated.

The only notable betterment to my eyes is that nan wheels connected nan iconic Coke trucks are really consistently turning this year, alternatively than gliding statically complete snow-covered roads. The Wall Street Journal reports that Coca-Cola teamed up pinch Silverside and Secret Level connected its latest vacation campaign, 2 of nan AI studios that antecedently worked connected nan 2024 Coke Christmas ads.

Coca-Cola declined to remark connected nan costs of nan caller vacation campaign, according to The Wall Street Journal, but said that astir 100 group were progressive successful nan task — a fig comparable to nan company’s older AI-free productions. That includes 5 “AI specialists” from Silverside who contributed by prompting and refining much than 70,000 AI video clips.

This comes astatine a clip erstwhile AI devices are quickly improving to switch nan manual activity performed by imaginative professionals, raising concerns astir early employment opportunities. Google has besides introduced its first afloat AI-generated commercial this year, saying that consumers don’t really attraction if ads are created utilizing nan technology. And Coca-Cola is firmly embracing its usage successful advertising, contempt issues successful erstwhile campaigns, including a commercialized successful April that made up a fake book by writer J.G. Ballard.

Those past blunders are seemingly worthy nan consequence for Coca-Cola, pinch nan company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Manolo Arroyo, telling The Wall Street Journal that its latest vacation run was cheaper and speedier to nutrient compared to accepted production. “Before, erstwhile we were doing nan shooting and each nan modular processes for a project, we would commencement a twelvemonth successful advance,” Arroyo told nan publication. “Now, you tin get it done successful astir a month.”