Coca-Cola's recent foray into AI-generated Christmas advertising has sparked a considerable online backlash, raising questions about the current capabilities and limitations of this rapidly evolving technology. The campaign, consisting of three short video ads, has drawn mockery and criticism for its uncanny visuals and technical imperfections. This follows a similar controversy surrounding a Toys âRâ Us AI-generated advertisement earlier this year, highlighting the challenges brands face when integrating this nascent technology into their marketing strategies.
The Coca-Cola ads were produced by three AI studios â Secret Level, Silverside AI, and Wild Card â utilising generative AI models including Leonardo, Luma, Runway, and Kling. The production process, detailed by Secret Level founder Jason Zada to Ad Age, revealed the significant hurdles involved in generating realistic human imagery. Creating believable human figures without grotesque distortions or unnatural movements remains a substantial challenge for current AI video generation models. Zada highlighted the crucial role of Kling in enhancing the realism of human motion within the ads.
The most widely discussed advertisement features human characters, albeit fleetingly. Unlike the more ambitious Toys âRâ Us campaign, the Coca-Cola ad employs a rapid-fire montage of short clips, focusing primarily on vehicles and close-up shots of smiling faces â content relatively less demanding for current generative AI. This approach significantly mitigates the risk of falling into the "uncanny valley," where near-human representations trigger feelings of unease.
The ad pays homage to Coca-Cola's iconic 1995 "Holidays Are Coming" commercial, featuring red Christmas-decorated delivery trucks and glimpses of smiling individuals enjoying Coca-Cola. However, the brevity of these shots, likely a conscious effort to minimise exposure to potential AI flaws, leaves the viewer with a rushed and somewhat disjointed experience. The absence of a clear Santa Claus image, replaced by a fleeting shot of a seemingly rubbery hand clutching a Coke bottle, is particularly noticeable.
Numerous technical imperfections are evident upon closer inspection. Inconsistencies such as truck wheels gliding across the ground without rotating, distorted proportions of characters and buildings, and oddly shaped Christmas lights have all been highlighted by online commentators. These "hallucinations," common in AI-generated content, point to the technology's limitations in producing visually coherent and accurate outputs. The necessity of extensive post-production touch-ups, particularly to correct the AI's inability to generate legible text (despite the ubiquitous Coca-Cola logos), underscores the significant human intervention required to make the footage presentable.
Even seemingly simple elements, such as an AI-generated squirrel, proved exceptionally challenging to render realistically, requiring hundreds of iterations through the AI models. This highlights the inefficiency of the process: considerable computational resources are consumed to generate a substantial amount of unusable footage, leaving the production team to painstakingly select and refine the few acceptable shots.
The response on social media has been largely critical, with many commentators questioning the efficiency and artistic merit of using AI in this manner. Concerns regarding job displacement within the creative industries have also been raised. The overall sentiment suggests that the Coca-Cola ads fail to demonstrate the practical utility of current AI video generation technology and, arguably, even damage its credibility by producing a substandard imitation of a classic advertisement.
The campaign ultimately serves as a cautionary tale, illustrating both the potential and the limitations of AI in advertising. While the technology shows promise, the current challenges in creating truly convincing visuals and the significant human effort required to rectify AI errors suggest that the widespread adoption of AI in advertising may be premature. The "magic" of handcrafted artistry, it seems, remains unsurpassed.