Coca-Cola and the AI Menace

Published: 24/12/2024
5 minutes read

Coca-Cola and the AI Menace

Published: 24/12/2024
5 minutes read

Another public outrage against the widespread misuse of AI generative tools is currently happening. This time, its target is Coca-Cola’s latest ad campaign, created entirely by AI. When did Coca-Cola lose sight of its brand’s essence? Today, we explore the magic and the controversy behind the Coca-Cola AI Christmas ads, how they’re made, and what the public says about them.

Before Coca-Cola AI

Coca-Cola relies on feelings of joy and togetherness to sell its soft drinks, primarily the one drink bearing the brand name. There are various interpretations of what incites joy and togetherness, but the actual Christmas ads can be traced to Haddon Sundblom’s 1931 reimagination of Santa Claus. He depicted Santa Claus as a jolly man in a red suit, an image many still hold as a reference to Christmas.

As of 2023, Coca-Cola AI ads had begun to roll out. First, there was the ‘Masterpiece’ ad to test the waters, which inevitably led to the ‘The Holiday Magic is coming.’ ad – the one where many people recognize the brand but don’t feel the emotions previously associated with it.

From AI Tools to AI Everything

Coca-Cola’s first use of AI was in its ‘Masterpiece’ ad, developed jointly with Bain and Company. The ad’s story takes place in a museum, and it depicts various art pieces coming to life and working together to bring a bottle of Coke to a drowsy art student. The intertwined art genres in the ad mix imagination with reality in a unique, captivating way. The feelings of joy and togetherness are still visible, and AI gives depth to imagery and storytelling, making its use somewhat acceptable.

However, since they introduced the “Real Magic AI” at the beginning of 2024, they have been churning out ads entirely made with GPT-4 and DALL-E (generative AI tools) and relying less on people who make the ads memorable. The public announcement detailed more reliance on the use of AI.

Today, we have this official Coca-Cola AI ad:

We also have several other ads made by agencies using the “Real Magic AI” tool. Each relied on Real Magic AI, Coca-Cola’s proprietary AI tool, in its creation and production.

Play

Old Ads vs New - the Outcome

After watching the ads, what do you think got lost in the AI-generated ads? According to Search Engine Journal, new AI ads grab attention but don’t retain it compared to the 2020 ad. For reference, here’s the 2020 ad:

The 2024 AI ads also don’t generate the same levels of positive emotions as the 2020 ad, compared to the industry average. Brand recognition is high when comparing AI and the 2020 control ad, but that may be due to widely recognized motives—Santa Claus, red Coca-Cola trucks, distinct bottle design, etc.

What is most notably missing is the sense of togetherness—the emotion on which Coca-Cola as a brand is built. AI ads don’t depict communities and families; instead, they showcase AI-generated humans who are unable to successfully transfer emotion to the viewer. The ad also noticeably lacks the limitation of AI generative tools in having a scene last for more than three seconds.

Finally, there are the visual blunders: Coca-Coola, the sliding trucks, and the undefined and blurry objects, which all contribute to perceiving the ad as low-quality.

Coca-Cola trucks that have 2D tires because of the Coca-Cola AI — Some Coca-Cola truck tires are 2D.

Polar bears watching tv with wrong ear orientation because of Coca-Cola AI — Bears’ ears are not oriented naturally.

Blurry objects that don’t even resemble trucks because of poor generation of the Coca-Cola AI — Blurry objects that don’t even resemble trucks.

Coca-Cola trucks that should be driving appear to be sliding because of Coca-Cola AI — Coca-Cola trucks are sliding, not driving.

Public Reception

The overall public reception for Coca-Cola AI ads was mild to negative. Some Reddit viewers focused on what AI-created imagery lacks in close-ups of people’s faces or how trucks appear weightless.

Comment by a reddit user that writes: It still looks uncanny and bad (the squirrels especially) Off putting tbh. It'll get there someday, but that day is not today by any stretch

Comment by a reddit user that writes: Looks absolutely awful lol. Looks way worse than their commercials from 15 years ago.

Comment by a reddit user that writes: Weird. Even when you're paying for it they still can't produce a clip with any flow longer than 4 seconds.

Comment by a reddit user that writes: The errors on the video is just jarring like the wheels of the truck would change form while rolling. The video just lack fine uniformity

Comment by a reddit user that writes: Coca Loola!

Given the recent changes in how companies increase reliance on AI tools and decrease creative teams, the general public had negative reactions.

Other viewers, particularly on YouTube, criticized the effort, that is, the lack of.

Comment by a youtube user that writes: The irony of the "Real Magic" tagline at the end of a fake commercial.

Comment by a youtube user that writes: A multi billion dollar company can't film a real 15 second ad, wow.

Comment by a youtube user that writes: Merry Al Christmas! This is as heartwarming as an aluminum tree.

Moving Forward

The use of AI is becoming inevitable in the advertising industry. The Coca-Cola AI ad stirred a lot of controversy because it lacked the spirit the consumers were expecting. The emotional transfer is missing and is also hindered by the overuse of AI tools. No tool can tell the story as a real person can, and if we want to see the promise of happiness in every bottle of Coke – we have to let people who experience it tell the story how they imagine this experience, not imagine it by prompting an AI.

So, let’s stick to having AI as a formidable and versatile tool, and keep the people in charge of art direction and production. That’s how we might have the best of both worlds.

By the way, the hand in one of the ads has six fingers. Last time we checked, the average is a bit below five per hand.