What happened to the Christmastime that I love?
Now that the calendar has flipped to November, the holiday season is officially upon us. It still might seem a little early to celebrate Christmas, but try telling that to all of the retailers that have had their Santa stuff out since late September. Needless to say, consumerism love Christmas, and brands have been chomping at the bit to roll out their Christmas themed ads and products.
I’ll admit that the one thing I don’t mind butting in ahead of schedule are Christmas commercials. Typically, I try to avoid advertisements at all costs, but sometimes there’s nothing better than a little holiday-themed ad spot. However, there’s one commercial out right now that’s not necessarily spreading the holiday joy and Christmas spirit… unless you think artificial intelligence is perfect for ringing in the holiday season.
Back in 1995, Coca-Cola released their “Holidays are Coming” ad campaign. The commercial and its style became beloved, and was shot with real people on a real set. Pretty sad I have to clarify that, am I right? But I do, because last year, Coca-Cola brought back their “Holidays are Coming” commercial… and it was created entirely by artificial intelligence.
Many viewed the series of artificial-intelligence-generated commercials in 2024 as the company selling out, especially since Coca-Cola has such a rich history with Christmas advertisements. Their “Holidays are Coming” ads have always been beloved and anticipated… and last year’s efforts made it appear as though Coca-Cola doesn’t even care to take the time to keep the tradition rolling.
Coca-Cola undoubtedly heard the backlash last year, so you know what they did this year? I wish I could tell you that they went back to real people on a real set. That’s not what they did. Instead, they doubled down on artificial intelligence and created another “Holidays are Coming” commercial that was AI-generated.
Pratik Thakar, the global vice president and head of generative AI at Coca-Cola, explained why in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
“Last year people criticized the craftsmanship. But this year the craftsmanship is ten times better. There will be people who criticize — we cannot keep everyone 100 percent happy. But if the majority of consumers see it in a positive way, it’s worth it going forward.”
NEWSFLASH MR. THAKAR: the criticism was because of the use of AI… not how the artificial intelligence looked.
Thakar also bragged that the ad took even less people to make than last year’s (20 to last year’s 50), and that the AI is so much more efficient that they can do more in a short amount of time. If you ask me, it’s not supposed to always be about efficiency. Whatever happened to brands having pride? And wanting to be artful with their ads?
Christmas ads used to make you feel something, and evoke holiday spirit. Now, if one of the leaders in Christmas commercial production is basically mailing it in and trusting AI to take over their rich tradition, we’re not too far away from every ad on television looking something like this.
It’s got all the looks of a Christmas advertisement, but none of the heart:
You can’t spell Christmas without AI.
It just makes me sad, you know? It certainly feels like holiday spirit is on life support, and Coca-Cola – who should be upholding tradition – is leading the rest of the world into a lifeless, bland, AI-generated existence.
At least we can still look up the original ad from 1995 on YouTube, back when they used REAL PEOPLE to make commercials:
