Iconic Coca-Cola Christmas ad sparks debate over use of AI

It's seemingly the year of disappointing Christmas ads for some, as Coca-Cola mark the start of the festivities with a modern twist.

The brand's 'Holidays Are Coming' sentiment first launched back in 1995 and has since been a Christmas highlight for many. But this year's 15-second clip has rubbed people up the wrong way – mostly for its use of artificial intelligence.

The clip shows a fleet of Coca-Cola trucks arriving in a snowy landscape as a man hands a bottle of the drink to an unseen figure with white cuffs, assumingly Santa – though, he is not fully shown.

Javier Meza, the EU chief marketing officer at Coca-Cola, said they wanted to adapt to "today's times" by implementing the use of AI.

"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," he told Marketing Week.

But the decision hasn't gone down well with some X/Twitter users who candidly shared their opinions online.

One said they were "appalled and disgusted" by the use of AI, adding: I used to nostalgically confirm Christmas was here when I saw the ad come on... but what is this AI monstrosity? Was it that difficult to use real humans?!"

Another questioned, "How are we letting this happen?" The viewer felt as though they were "watching the death of art and our planet unfold in front of my eyes and no one in real life seems to care."

Meanwhile, a third passionate user wrote: "THEY USED AI FOR THE COCA-COLA CHRISTMAS ADVERT THOSE SCUMMY B****** WHAT THE F***"

A Coca-Cola spokesman said: "Coca-Cola’s exciting venture into AI-generated storytelling demonstrates Coca-Cola’s commitment to embracing innovation, leveraging our collaborations with top creative and technology partners, while staying true to its core values: spreading happiness and creating real magic!"

Indy100 reached out to Coca-Cola for comment

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.