Coca-Cola has remade its iconic Christmas advert, 'Holidays Are Coming', using artificial intelligence in what has proven to be a divisive move.
The soft drinks giants has released two versions of the advert that were made by three AI studios -- Secret Level, Silverside AI and Wild Card -- using a number of generative AI models.
Both feature convoys of red Coca-Cola trucks driving through wintry scenes and towns and images of a number of animals including squirrels, reindeer and polar bears.
Both clips also begin with the cap being removed from a Coca-Cola bottle and feature the 'Holidays are Coming' song, but only one shows computer-generated people smiling and celebrating with their Coke bottles.
Below you can see the original advert and the two AI-generated versions:
Speaking to Ad Week, Silverside AI co-founder and partner PJ Pereira said the company used Stable Diffusion, Pactto, DALL-E, ChatGPT, and its own tool Director Magic to create the 30-second advert.
Late in the process, Coca-Cola asked Silverside AI if it could create customised version for use in various cities and global markets.
Initially sceptical, Silverside AI created 110 different versions of the advert, including 27 key market localisations. Pereira also praised AI for simplifying time-consuming project management tasks.
“It’s not impossible anymore. AI allows us to take great ideas that would have died without the budgets and bring them to life, for multiple ideas to get made, to elevate the level of everything," he said.
The adverts have been criticised online by artists and creative professionals as "soulless" and devoid of any actual creativity".
"FUN FACT: @CocaCola is “red” because it’s made from the blood of out-of-work artists!" Alex Hirsch, creator of Disney Channel cartoon Gravity Falls, wrote on X.
In a statement the Coca-Cola Company said it has "a long history of capturing the magic of the holidays in content, film, events and retail activations for decades around the globe.
"We are always exploring new ways to connect with consumers and experiment with different approaches. This year, we crafted films through a collaboration of human storytellers and the power of generative AI.
"Coca-Cola will always remain dedicated to creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technology."
(Pic: Coca-Cola/YouTube)
