‘Soulless’: Coca-Cola ignites firestorm with its first fully AI-generated ad for Christmas

An attempt at bridging the past to the future found Coca-Cola facing a backlash as their latest Christmas offering left some saying, “They killed the magic.”

(Video Credit: Coca-Cola)

Just when major corporations thought the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services was their biggest problem, the most valuable soft drink brand in the world said, hold my Coke. Known for iconic yuletide advertising, the company combined nostalgia and Artificial Intelligence to produce a sour aftertaste.

Referring to a short version of the promotion that harkened back to the 1995 ad campaign “Holidays Are Coming,” Futurism reported, “This is the company’s first fully AI-generated ad. The version of the commercial that Coke first shared — and is receiving all the negative attention — is only fifteen seconds long, but is instantly recognizable through its AI-generated recreation of the shots of Coca-Cola trucks driving across snowy landscapes, along with the re-used song.”

Shared across social media, the spot replete with polar bears, delivery trucks, and their iconic imagining of the jolly old elf struck many with the unsettling and uncanny style where elements like faces and Santa Claus’s hand were noticeably off.

A longer version of the promotion that included the disclaimer “Created by Real Magic AI,” was also criticized for feeling “soulless” despite limiting the appearance of AI-generated people to one shot where polar bears were watching television.

Explaining the decision to use the emerging technology to produce their new Christmas advertisements instead of hiring artists or actors and the accompanying crews of professionals, European Chief Marketing Officer Javier Meza told Marketing Week, “We didn’t start by saying: ‘OK, we need to do this with AI.’ The brief was, we want to bring Holidays Are Coming into the present and then we explored AI as a solution to that.”

The CMO referred to the decision as “efficient” for time and money as he expressed, “Having such a piece of communication that becomes part of people’s life is a privilege. Not all brands have that privilege and it’s something that we take very seriously.”

After reaching an all-time high stock price at $73.53 in early September, the Coca-Cola Company has been steadily declining, falling from around $70.00 in late October to just under $62.00 as of Tuesday morning.

It’s worth noting that the last time Coca-Cola posted on X was when it released its spot promoting a “Futuristic Flavored” beverage “Co-Created with Artificial Intelligence,” in Sept. 2023.

While some were ready to embrace the exponentially increasing capabilities of AI, others saw the use of the technology, especially as part of the Christmas season, as a reason to boycott. In comments below the video on YouTube as well as across social media, users asserted, “They killed the magic. Officially,” and suggested, “Pepsi, now’s your chance to make a live action ad bashing on coke for using ai.”

Kevin Haggerty

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