Does Coca-Cola’s AI ad herald a new era?
The potential merger of advertising firms Omnicom and Interpublic Group, announced Monday, would enable the combined company to further leverage new technology. The subtext here, of course, is artificial intelligence, which touches many parts of the ad business these days, from idea formation to image generation.
Take Coca-Cola. Maybe you’ve seen this new holiday commercial from the beverage giant. It’s a nostalgic take on the company’s ad from the ‘90s, where red Coca-Cola trucks drive through snowy towns at night.
The ad ends with voices singing, “‘Tis the season, it’s always the real thing.” Which is a little ironic, since — as many have pointed out — the ad was made by AI.
“It a little bit missed the mark because it was kind of giving over the tools of creativity to the machine,” said Phil Gaughran, global business strategy officer at Dentsu Creative.
The commercial has a high resolution and a cartoonish touch. At one point, a polar bear appears to have two left paws. Gaughran said it just kinda … takes the beauty out of it.
“As great as AI is, it can be a little bit formulaic,” he said.
That’s why, for now, Gaughran said, AI isn’t often used to create full ads, except to clean up or create backgrounds.
Scott Everett, creative trainer at ad agency PMG, said the firm uses AI mostly during the idea generation stage. “It works wonders in helping us to rapidly pressure-test ideas and visualize ideas,” he said.
Want to figure out if the ad should take place at an airport or a train station? AI can make a quick mockup.
That kind of computing power saves time, allowing one team member to do the work of a handful. But Everett said most companies hesitate to create fully AI-generated commercials because of copyright rules.
“Because AI is drawing on a knowledge base of content, you know, that has a roster of original creators, it creates some legal gray area,” he said.
Brands are also worried about consumer backlash, à la the Coke commercial.
“If consumers know that a creative work or creative product is AI-generated, their preference for such tends to be lower,” said Kartik Hosanagar, co-director of the AI center at the Wharton School.
That’s right — if they know. Soon, Hosanagar said, AI will be so good, no one will be able to tell the difference.
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