Ehe new Coca-Cola Christmas advertisement, launched at the beginning of November, has sparked an intense debate among consumers and experts on social networks. The reason: the piece It was generated entirely with artificial intelligence (AI)a decision that, although innovative, has been criticized for replacing human creativity.
EThe commercial shows a sequence of animals with human features that react excitedly to the passing of the brand’s traditional red trucks.while Christmas lights light up between the trees. The only human figure is Santa Clausalso generated by AI based on the company’s classic drawings.
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In a statement, Coca-Cola highlighted that “last year we marked a global milestone with the world’s first film created entirely with GenAI“, and that this new campaign “It is further proof of our path towards the adoption of emerging technologies to rethink how we create and scale content.”
However, the response on social networks was not so positive. Many users described the result as a “visual aberration” and They regretted that such a large company dispenses with human creative teams for its productions. On platforms like X and YouTube, comments multiplied: “A year has passed and AI continues to generate something ugly,” wrote one Internet user.
Faced with criticism, Pratik Thakar, global vice president and head of generative AI at Coca-Cola, defended the campaign in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Last year, people criticized the technical quality, but this year the ad is ten times better”, he stated.
He added that the company cannot “please 100% of the public,” but that if “the majority perceives it positively, it is worth moving forward.” According to Thakar, artificial intelligence “is there to enhance human work” and not to replace it: “Creativity, direction and ideas will always come from people.”. “AI is just a powerful tool to execute what couldn’t be done before.”
