Coca-Cola Christmas advert 2024: was it made by AI, what has the reaction been - who made it?

• Coca-Cola has used AI to ‘reinvent’ its classic Christmas ad. 
• The new version of Holidays Are Coming debuted over the weekend - and will appear on TV. 
• But the reaction to it has been mixed - with many people angry at Coca-Cola for using AI. 

The famous Coca-Cola truck is back - but not in the way that you remember it. 

One of the signs that Christmas is on the horizon is the ‘holidays are coming’ advert debuting on TV. It has been iconic since it debuted in the 20th century and its arrival is almost as important as cracking out the chocolate advent calendar - or the debut of the John Lewis Christmas commercial. 

However the soft drink giant has faced a backlash online after its 2024 version of the advert was revealed over the weekend. Fans have been particularly aggrieved over the fact it was made with generative AI (artificial intelligence) and have vented their frustrations. 

It comes after the release of well-acclaimed Christmas adverts from other major brands including the highly-anticipated John Lewis festive commercial. You can watch that one here. 

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Is the Coca-Cola Christmas advert made with AI? 

The soft drink giant’s festive commercial is made by AI. The campaign is described as a “modern” interpretation, one of the companies behind the campaign told Ad Week. 

There are three versions of the advert that have been created, Ad Age reports. Speaking about the advert to Marketing Weekly, Coca-Cola’s European CMO Javier Meza said: “We didn’t start by saying: ‘OK, we need to do this with AI.’ 

“The brief was, we want to bring Holidays Are Coming into the present and then we explored AI as a solution to that.”

Coca-Cola will also re-run its 2023 advert, according to Marketing Weekly. Watch the AI advert for yourself - we have embedded it below, give it a moment to load in. 

Who made the advert for Coca-Cola? 

The generative AI version of Holidays Are Coming was worked on by three different studios - Secret Level, Silverside AI and The Wild Card. One person, who works at Silverside AI, tweeted: “The company I work for, Silverside AI, just created an ad for Coca-Cola (yes THE Coca-Cola)!! We were asked to bring the classic Coca Cola Holidays are Coming ad back through the use of AI.” 

What has been the reaction to the advert? 

Social media users were quick to take to the internet to express their frustrations at Coca-Cola for using AI to make the advert. It has been slammed as ‘slop’ and ‘creepy’ in some reactions. 

One person posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Coca Cola using ai for an ad is genuinely so terrifying to me. Art is dying. 

“Actors, replaced. Camera workers, replaced. Drivers, replaced. Designers, replaced. Soulless. This is affecting EVERYONE now. 

“Whether you want to accept that or not. It's going too far.” 

Another laid into it saying: “The Coca Cola AI Christmas commercial is ugly, uncanny garbage.”  While one user wrote: “Over 14 years ago, people were recreating the Coca Cola Christmas ad in GTA San Andreas and it still came off as more authentic than this tripe.” 

A person on X added: “With this creepy AI spot, Coca-Cola can no longer claim 'It's always the real thing'.  We normally have gallons of the stuff at Christmas, but this year we'll take a leaf out of Coca-Cola's book and buy the knockoff. Time for a boycott.”

In the comments on YouTube, one person said: “This is such slop bro. If a billion dollar company like coca cola cant pay real artists, actors, directors, etc to promote their product what precedent does this set for the rest of the market?” 

But not all of the reaction online was negative, people who are more open to the AI revolution have praised it. One fan wrote: “For any sceptics out there, Coca-Cola just released a fully AI generated Christmas ad. 

“Now, it's no masterpiece but surely it's going to get people talking. For a company spending $4-5bn a year on advertising it's an interesting move.” Another added: “This is a game-changer for generative AI.” 

Have you watched the advert - what do you think of it? Is it a bad sign that companies like Coca-Cola are turning to AI for commercials, or just a sign of the future. Share your thoughts by emailing me: [email protected].