Coca-Cola Uses AI Video to ‘Reimagine’ Its Classic Christmas Ad

Coca-Cola has controversially remade its iconic Christmas ad featuring Santa and wintry scenes using artificial intelligence video tools.

The soft drinks giant commissioned three companies to come up with an AI recreation of the ad and it’s the version made by Secret Level that is on TV.

The ad is reminiscent of Coca-Cola’s very first Christmas spot which was made in 1995. It features large trucks, polar bears, and happy, shiny people.

Secret Level founder Jason Zada tells AdAge that the spot “borrows from the original, in terms of tonality and musically, but able to re-imagine it for a whole new generation.”

Coca-Cola uses the AI platforms Leonardo, Luma, and Runway but as the team was working on the AI commercial, the Chinese video platform Kling was released which became integral to the final piece.

“When a new model comes out and you look at running some of your old shots through it, all of a sudden it changes everything,” Zada tells AdAge.

Zada says that Kling made human motion more realistic and Secret Level was the only company to include humans in their ad. The humans that appear are based on real actors who gave permission for their likenesses to be used.

Backlash

Much of the commentary about the ad online has been negative. Creative Bloq launched a scathing critique declaring “holidays are ruined.”

Such a great example of how AI cannot generate new ideas but simply smush together what was previously created. Yes this looks like a poor imitation of the typical Coca-Cola Xmas commercial https://t.co/R6QfQD31t3

— Brenden Gallagher (@brendengallager) November 15, 2024

“FUN FACT: @CocaCola is ‘red’ because it’s made from the blood of out-of-work artists,” writes animator Alex Hirsch.

Zada admits to AdAge that the AI ad saved “several million dollars and a lot of time in the cold” than if they had shot it for real.

“And we were able to do all of that, you know, from the comfort of everyone’s home, we have global artists all over the world that we worked with,” says Zada.

“I think a lot of people feel like you just press a button, and you get something like that [Coca-Cola commercial] out.

“And I think that it’s so much of the human side of it that makes that warmth that you see in that spot.”

The humans that appear in the ad are based on real actors.

Coca-Cola’s VP and global head of generative AI Pratik Thakar tells AdAge that it wasn’t about saving money but doing things more creatively.

“More than cost, it’s the speed. Speed is I would say five times, right? And that is a huge benefit. The production time would have taken, traditionally, much longer. So that is a huge benefit,” says Thakar.

“And then you can do more, more variety, and more customized and more personalized. And that’s the way to go, with resources, rather than doing less and spending less.”

Thakar adds that Coca-Cola won’t be using AI for all of its commercial work.