Coca-Cola has released new holiday commercials created with AI, a year after its first AI-generated ads drew criticism from creative professionals. Katie Deighton reports for The Wall Street Journal.
The new “Holidays Are Coming” campaign includes two commercials produced by AI studios Silverside and Secret Level. Chief Marketing Officer Manolo Arroyo says the production was cheaper and faster than traditional methods. Traditional production required starting a year in advance, while AI production took about a month.
The new ads feature animals instead of humans, avoiding the “uncanny valley” effect that made last year’s human characters appear unsettling. Technical issues like wheels appearing to glide rather than turn have also been addressed.
Despite criticism, Coca-Cola’s 2024 AI ads scored highly with regular consumers, according to research firm System1. The company says around 100 people worked on the new campaign across Coca-Cola, agency WPP, and the AI studios. However, only five AI specialists were needed to create more than 70,000 video clips for one of the ads.
The use of generative AI in advertising is growing rapidly. Thirty percent of connected TV commercials, social videos, and online videos use generative AI tools this year, up from 22% in 2024, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The trade group predicts this will reach 39% in 2026.
Consumer resistance to AI in advertising appears to be declining slightly. A January poll found 46% of consumers in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia oppose AI in ads, down from 49% a year earlier.
