The GenAI Holidays are Coming

One of the world's most recognisable brands, Coca-Cola, has created something of a fizz in both the advertising and AI worlds this week as the company launched not one but three iterations of their famous Christmas advert entirely generated by generative AI.

The three adverts were produced by Secret Level, Silverside and The Wild Card and, for me, represent a massive crossing-the-rubicon moment. Coca-Cola's "Holidays are Coming" adverts are one of the most recognisable pieces of brand collateral in the world; they were first seen on our screens in 1995, and for a lot of people, their appearance on TV marks the beginning of the holiday season. It's, therefore, quite a bold move for the drinks brand to have used AI to create this vital piece of creative work. (Although I would fully expect there to have been a traditional ad in the can as a backup.) There will be a lot of creatives that will have watched these adverts with a raised eyebrow, no doubt being able to highlight the flaws and the benefits of the traditional approach, and that's a very real conversation many industries are likely to face over the coming months and years. I can also imagine a lot of other brands will be taking a very close look at these ads and not just the creatives but how they perform and are received in the market. Sometimes, you can gain a first-mover advantage, and at other times, it pays to wait.

What do you think?

I paid close attention to some of the human elements, like limbs and fingers. In the very early stages of genAI, it was pretty usual to see a dog with 5 legs or hands with an incorrect number of fingers. However, I have to say everything in these three ads looked entirely correct, which demonstrated how quickly the technology is improving.

Whilst no one claims any of the ads are perfect (they are so very good that I doubt anyone will quibble, for now), this surely must be the beginning for generative AI in the Ad industry.