For years, Coca-Cola has released ads to ring in the festive season. However, this year’s commercial is drawing major flak from, well … everyone.
It has become a tradition for Coca-Cola to release a “Holidays are Coming” ad campaign to celebrate the start of the Christmas season. The tradition started in 1995 and has become a mainstay during this time of the year due to Coca-Cola’s brand strategy of evoking nostalgia. However, their recent Christmas commercial, though only 15 seconds long, caused massive backlash online due to the company’s use of AI.
Coca-Cola berated for using generative AI
On November 16, 2024, Coca-Cola released one of this year’s Christmas commercials, a homage to the original 1995 “Holidays are Coming” ad. The commercial starts with a fleet of red Coca-Cola trucks making its way to a town that is brightly decorated with Christmas decor (and has polar bears for neighbors). As the trucks enter town, the citizens react excitedly. One driver, believed to be Santa Claus due to his beard and red outfit, steps out of one of the trucks and hands a man a Coca-Cola bottle, which he accepts happily.
The commercial ends with the trucks leaving town and a wide shot of the town’s festive decorations, followed by the Coca-Cola logo and the words “Real Magic,” referencing that the commercial was made with Create Real Magic AI. Create Real Magic is Coca-Cola’s very own AI program.
Those who saw the commercial online or on TV expressed shock and disgust with Coca-Cola’s decision to use AI. Many claimed the AI product was “disturbing” and flamed Coca-Cola for robbing people of a potential job, opting to save money and go the lazy route by using AI. Some pointed out that writers and actors in Hollywood previously went on strike to fight against AI, but it appears companies aren’t listening.
One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote: “this is extremely scary and robbing actors of their money!!”
Others believe that if actual human beings had worked on the ad the company could have produced something much better and more meaningful. Some netizens even stated this was the “ugliest ad” they had ever seen and spoke about how dystopian it is that the program is called “Create Real Magic” when everything is so obviously fake.
Additionally, many expressed shock that the commercial was made 100% with AI. They noted that the “people” in the ad looked extremely realistic. The fact that, at first glance, the “actors” look so natural has scared many, with people wondering if companies will follow suit and use AI for all their ads from now on. As one user noted: “AI is gonna take over everything one day. I really thought this part was real …” referencing a shot of two young women smiling happily in front of a Christmas tree.
Another wrote: “Suppose everything is done by AI, what will humans do? Since they won’t have to do anything productive at all, they will just create chaos I guess?”
At the time of publication, Coca-Cola has not yet responded to the backlash. It is currently unknown if they will release another ad made by actual humans. Might be nice, right?
Published: Nov 16, 2024 09:56 am