Coca-Cola AI Ad: Sloppy Eyesore

In a bold move that has sparked widespread debate, Coca-Cola has released its 2025 holiday advertisement titled “Holidays Are Coming,” which was created entirely using artificial intelligence. While the company may have hoped to usher in the festive season with innovative technology, the commercial has instead been met with overwhelmingly negative criticism, with many describing the animation as a “sloppy eyesore.”

The AI-Generated Advertisement

Coca-Cola’s latest holiday campaign marks the company’s continued experimentation with generative AI in advertising, following up on similar efforts in 2024 that also faced backlash. The 2025 “Holidays Are Coming” spot features animated animal characters including polar bears, pandas, and sloths instead of the traditional human figures that have populated the brand’s holiday campaigns for decades. This choice appears to be an attempt to sidestep the uncanny valley effect that plagued previous AI-generated human characters.

According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, the production involved approximately 100 people, including five “AI specialists” from Silverside who contributed by prompting and refining more than 70,000 AI video clips. The company worked with AI studios Silverside and Secret Level, both of which were also involved in the controversial 2024 AI-generated holiday commercials.

Visual Quality Concerns

The commercial has faced significant criticism for its inconsistent animation styles and unnatural character movements. Reviewers have noted that the animals switch between attempted realism and a “bug-eyed toony look,” with movements described as awkward and unconvincing. According to a review by The Verge, the animation quality appears “extremely dated” when compared to current AI video tools like OpenAI’s Sora 2 or Google’s Veo 3.

One of the few acknowledged improvements from the 2024 version is that the wheels on the iconic Coke trucks now consistently turn, rather than gliding statically over snow-covered roads as they did in last year’s iteration.

Public and Professional Reactions

The response to Coca-Cola’s AI-generated advertisement has been overwhelmingly negative. Social media platforms and news outlets have been flooded with criticism, with users describing the commercial as “soulless” and “devoid of any actual creativity.” Many commentators have accused Coca-Cola of prioritizing cost-cutting over the authentic craftsmanship that has historically defined its holiday campaigns.

Hollywood writer Alex Hirsch captured the sentiment of many creative professionals when he tweeted, “Coca-Cola is red because it’s made from the blood of out-of-work artists.” This comment reflects broader concerns in creative industries about job displacement due to AI adoption.

Industry Critiques

Professional critiques have focused on the lack of creative direction and artistic merit in the AI-generated content. According to The Shortcut, the advertisement suffers from “inconsistent and unconvincing AI-generated animals, lacking creative direction and artistic merit.” Even Coca-Cola’s own executives acknowledge the technical limitations, with Chief Marketing Officer Manolo Arroyo admitting that the 2024 campaign had significant quality issues.

Despite these criticisms, Coca-Cola maintains that its AI approach offers significant advantages in terms of cost and production speed. Arroyo told The Wall Street Journal that the campaign could be produced in around a month, compared to a year for traditional methods. However, the company declined to comment on the actual cost of the campaign, leading to speculation about the true economics of AI-generated advertising.

Broader Implications for Creative Industries

Coca-Cola’s continued investment in AI-generated advertising reflects a broader trend in the creative industries, where companies are experimenting with generative AI tools to reduce costs and accelerate production timelines. However, this trend has raised significant concerns about the impact on employment and the quality of creative output.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the creative industries employed over 2.6 million people in 2020. With 83% of creatives already using machine learning tools, the industry is at a crossroads regarding how to balance efficiency with quality and employment considerations.

The Technology Gap

The flaws evident in Coca-Cola’s AI-generated commercial highlight the current limitations of generative video technology. Despite advances in AI animation tools, creating consistent, high-quality animated content remains challenging. Current AI systems struggle with maintaining visual coherence across scenes, creating natural movement patterns, and replicating the nuanced artistic direction that human animators provide.

Platforms like Viggle AI claim to bridge the technological gap by enabling both professionals and hobbyists to animate characters with ease using text prompts. However, the results demonstrated in Coca-Cola’s commercial suggest that achieving professional-quality output still requires significant human oversight and refinement.

Corporate Strategy vs. Consumer Expectations

Coca-Cola’s persistence with AI-generated holiday advertising, despite negative feedback, illustrates a fundamental tension between corporate efficiency goals and consumer expectations. The company’s holiday campaigns have historically been anticipated cultural events that evoke nostalgia and emotional connection. By automating this process, Coca-Cola risks undermining the very elements that have made these advertisements beloved.

Executives at the company insist that “the genie is out of the bottle” when it comes to AI adoption in advertising, and that consumers will eventually adapt to AI-generated content. However, the backlash suggests that audiences may not be as accepting of this technological shift as companies hope.

Learning from Mistakes?

Coca-Cola’s AI experiments have not been without precedent in the advertising world. Other major brands, including Google, have also introduced fully AI-generated commercials this year. However, Coca-Cola’s high-profile missteps provide valuable case studies for other companies considering similar approaches.

The company’s previous blunders, including an AI-generated commercial that made up a fake book by author J.G. Ballard, seem to be worth the risk for Coca-Cola. The potential cost savings and production speed advantages appear to outweigh concerns about quality and brand perception, at least in the short term.

Looking Forward

As AI technology continues to evolve, it’s likely that the quality gaps currently evident in AI-generated content will narrow. However, Coca-Cola’s 2025 holiday advertisement serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of maintaining human oversight and creative direction in automated content creation.

The controversy surrounding the commercial also highlights the need for industry standards and ethical guidelines regarding AI use in creative work. While companies may see AI as a way to increase efficiency and reduce costs, they must also consider the impact on employment, quality, and consumer trust.

For now, Coca-Cola’s “Holidays Are Coming” trucks may be rolling again, but the brand’s festive magic appears to have lost some of its sparkle in the age of artificial intelligence.