Comments

What do you think of this Coca-Cola ad? — 53 Comments

1. The penguins are out of place. Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, penguins live in the south.

2. https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1989660472518610984

   Nature, man — way weirder than AI will ever be.

3. Not sure how much this really differs from pre-AI CGI. My biggest objection to AI is that many of its “facts” are not true.

4. Seems a bit overdone. Since they could literally include whatever they wanted, they did. Would have been better with 50% less critters.

5. The have a disclaimer in the first few seconds– created by Real Magic AI.

   First they came for the animators/coders…

   You can’t have too many cute critters.

   Time to embrace the imaginary.

6. *I* like AI.

   Anyway, I’m not sure this is AI or just computer animation. I agree it’s a bit busy for my tastes, but I’m not really the target demographic. Seems fine. People get worked up over stupid stuff.

7. Only __ shopping days ’til Christmas, the celebration of Jesus Christ Santa Claus red Coca Cola trucks!

8. Seems fine to me…not offensive and in the spirit of the old polar bear Coke Xmas ad.

9. Jeez. Who watches commercials? Who’s insane enough to get upset about them?

10. It’s too busy, and “real magic” seems like an odd tag for a totally unreal sixty seconds. But calling it “controversial” is a stretch. Do Hollywood or ad agencies make any “real” videos any more?

11. Some people need to get a life. It’s a nice ad. Trying to make people feel good, and of course buy Coke.

12. Some people need to get a life. It’s a nice Ad. Trying to make people feel nice, and of course to buy Coke.

    Several days ago I was standing in the Jewish Ghetto in Krakow and then Warsaw. I felt the evil. That is real life.

13. Thank you SHIREHOME for that dose of reality.

14. It is bizarre. AI supervised by actual human idiots I guess. The unworldly and changing trucks put me into the uncanny valley. Extra or missing axles. Fever dream stuff?

15. Is the controversy about Santa being White?
    I’ve noticed a big uptick in “racist/racism” narratives coming from the Lefty-world.

16. I wish we could go back to the “Miller Christmas Card” with a horse drawn sleigh going through the village to a piano playing “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” Greatest ad ever.

17. Chad, wasn’t that Budweiser? With the Clydesdale horses?

18. Chad, FOAF,
    I had a similar reaction to the trucks (fossil fuel emitters!! bad!!! bad!! bad!!) as needing to be replaced by some horses pulling sleighs, .. yeah, Clydesdales!! That’s the ticket!! but … but .. oh, wait?!

    I never developed a taste for beer, perhaps because my dad gave me a few ounces of beer at age 8 right after I had eaten a chocolate candy bar. But several decades of drinking soft drinks out of aluminum cans?? who knows what that does to you?

19. FOAF has it. For generating art – by whatever definition – I don’t see how AI is any different than CGI (computer-generated image). CGI has been around since the 70s. AI is just a different set of software. Being software, it’s subject to bugs.

    Coyotes run much faster than roadrunners but Warner Bros didn’t let “reality” get in the way of funny cartoons.

    As far as AI information being questionable, that it is. But this is a cute cartoon, not a discourse on quantum physics or political philosophy.

20. Those hedgehogs better have their green cards on them.

21. R2L: “my dad gave me a few ounces of beer at age 8”

    I had my first sip about the age of 5 from a handyman my parents hired occasionally to do chores around the house. Years later as an adult I mentioned this to my mom and she was, um, surprised …

22. The thing that I immediately noticed was the chant of “Holidays are coming”

    Didn’t the Coke Christmas commercials used to say “Christmas time is coming?” Or am I remembering incorrectly?

23. JackWayne said, ” Who watches commercials? Who’s insane enough to get upset about them?” Good questions, both of them. But it seems we live in an age where micro-size groups of people do both, but in the faux domain of the internet, they can generate outrageously outsized influence. I think there are those who actually get offended at the least offensive things, but a far larger group (but still micro-sized) who use it as an opportunity to inflict their misery on everyone else. Best reaction is no reaction. Unlike that pesky mole that suddently sprouted in your armpit, it’s best to ignore such things. Life is much more pleasant that way.

24. As I read this at 6:30 am Sunday, a Great Horned Owl is hooting out in the forest. We have a giant red oak snag that is a sitting spot for dozens of different birds, and the GHO apparently got there first today.

    Anyway, I find real wildlife so much more attractive to these images. More elusive, to be sure, which makes seeing them a reward.

    Not that the GHO could convince me to drink Coke either!

25. Chases Eagles … I was primed for the trucks because I’d seen a graphic about the weird axle arrangements before I watched the commercial here. I think the weird trucks say it all about AI. A human would be able to draw 4 consistently identical trucks from different angles without any problem but AI seems to think changing perspective on the trucks changes the number and position of the axles. It has no memory so what it created for the first few seconds of the commercial has no input on what it creates later. If it can’t maintain continuity in an environment entirely of its own creation, why are people surprised by how it consistently makes outrageous errors regarding the human world?

26. Honestly, why would anybody comment about a TV ad?

    don’t like it?? don’t watch it.
    like it? then look forward to seeing it again.

27. The Griswold Family Truckster at 0:46 (or near enough).

28. About the only thing that was boring was the constant repetition of the neotenous features in the critters, particularly the humongous eyes. In most of the animals they were so far out of proportion as to be a little disturbing.

    But who cares? They’re selling carbonated sugar-water that tastes like (in Bloom County-speak) malted battery acid. If cutesy prolonged-child-appearing critters help them sell the stuff that’s their choice.

29. Cute enough, obviously AI. So as a commercial it’s fine but finding too many like YouTube videos AI is getting used way to much

30. We are seeing a crisis of competence. We see it everywhere. It is like the Mediocrities meme “Eh, good enough”. It is not AI that is the problem here.

31. It’s not hard to figure this ad is AI or CGI. But there is a lot of AI slop and it may be the cumulative effect that has pushed critics over the line.

    I’m somewhat bothered too. Not by this ad. But there is a YouTube cottage industry of creators using AI to generate clickbait. The YouTube algorithm rewards massive, regular content and AI is a great way to get a revenue stream going.

    Well, YouTube hackers got to eat.

    For instance, I watched a video showing grateful WW2 Japanese POWs smiling and enjoying hot dogs for the first time, as kindly American guards looked on. The photos looked like legit aged B&Ws. There are several videos along this theme.

    I’m sure there were Japanese POWs surprised by their humane treatment and maybe even by the delights of American food.

    But this was AI slop with images generated by AI, text generated by AI and the narrator voice generated by AI.

32. Wonderful !!

33. I liked it. It was cute. But I’m a simple man.

34. I miss Jesus. The Christmas story is beyond words wonderful. I love it, and I’m Jewish. I can enjoy the holiday and family messages at Christmas, but they pale beside the real thing.

35. Neo did ask what we thought about the ad.

36. Yes, the “animals” were saying “The holidays are coming!”
    = = = = = =
    I was reading another forum where one man posted a picture of four young women (clothed) whom he thought were very attractive. He was perturbed when other people said it was AI. Two of the girls were missing an arm, and one’s hand had six or seven fingers.

37. I have seen the commercial and while I prefer Coke over other soft drinks, the commercial didn’t make me want to purchase any. I wasn’t all that impressed.
    I thought it was like an episode of Ice Road Truckers delivering Coke. 😉

38. Lately I’ve been into pet rescue videos. Human sees an animal in distress, takes it home, cleans it up, gets medical attention, keeps it safe, warm and well-fed. A few months later the animal blooms into the happy, heathy creature it was meant to be. Happy ending.

    I am not sure how true any of these videos are. I believe some are, but some aren’t.

    Take this video I was watching today:

    –“Rescuing a Snowy Owl Mother Trapped on a Barbed-Wire Fence – Her Chick Waiting for Her Below”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC0NoVXmeJ0

    It’s amazingly realistic down to the traffic sounds in the background. I’m watching a large mother owl with a large owl chick, just relaxed and grateful as the human dresses the mother’s wounds and gives them both water and small slices of meat.

    I used to be a bird watcher. No way, wild birds allow a human this close unless the birds are seriously drugged.

    Clicking the “more…” button in the explanation text I find:
    ______________________________

    This video was created using AI, but the message we want to share is real:

    Compassion and respect for all living beings — every creature, no matter how small or strong, deserves freedom, kindness, and life.
    ______________________________

    I’m all for compassion and respect too, but that doesn’t justify these AI-generated appeals which fool one’s sense of reality.

    And this stuff is only getting started.

39. @ huxley > “I’m all for compassion and respect too, but that doesn’t justify these AI-generated appeals which fool one’s sense of reality.”

    Too close to “fake but accurate” for me. Given the message, I wonder if that video was generated by people who otherwise rails against mis, dis, malinformation on the internet — unless it’s “in a good cause” like theirs.

    I saved up a couple of posts about AI generated content, one of which is relatively harmless, as with the “animal rescue” videos, and one of which is not.

    This video about a dog and two eagles is lovely, fit for an old-time Disney family movie, but it’s fake. A substacker deconstructs it to show the “tells” in this very realistic looking clip (except that nothing like that would ever happen in real life). It seemed to me that the video was missing some of the things he looked at, but it was clear what he meant.

    https://substack.com/profile/32779049-brian-nelson/note/c-169566878

    The second is a more serious aspect of the ease with which AI can generate realistic content, in the service of dangerous financial scams. Again, an expert gives advice on identifying and avoiding them. Could have been better written IMO, but it’s the MSN “new tab” feed on the Edge browser that I can’t seem to get rid of.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/news/reformed-hacker-who-made-millions-stealing-identities-warns-of-3-rising-cyber-threats-and-how-to-stay-safe/ar-AA1QrUk5

40. Wow, I just pulled this video off the net, and thought I was listening to VDH, but look at what the producer put in the text — way down after you click “more”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3CTSeQbIW0

    “This breakdown explains what really happened, why Mamdani lost momentum, and how Trump’s steady leadership shaped the outcome.

    Disclaimer:
    This channel is not connected to Victor davis hanson. The videos are based on public information, news reports, and commentary meant only for education and analysis. The narration uses a synthesized voice to explain events more clearly and make complex topics easier to follow. Nothing in this video claims endorsement from Victor Davis Hanson, and no part of the content is meant to impersonate him.”

    And yet, they use his name, and his image, and imitate his voice.

    Looking close, you can see some of the visual clues that this is AI generated, and also if you have listened a lot to Hanson, the script is not quite right for his style, and the narration is too monotonously perfect.
    But boy is it close, certainly enough to fool a casual watcher.

    These deepfakes are going to cause a lot of damage politically and culturally if people start quoting the impersonators, and as these AI-generated scripts enter the training data for other LLMs.

41. Just when I had gotten over the ire of the great Cracker Barrel logo/decor redo I now have to deal with the insidious outrage of Coca Cola’s AI holiday ad. I worry, will I have enough fuel left to reignite my Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays/Season’s Greetings rage?

    Oh, the ad itself? Meh.

42. Re: VDH fake

    AesopFan:

    I’ve seen two channels made by the same people showing Elon Musk saying Musk-like things. The face doesn’t look quite right nor does the voice sound right but close enough.

    I’ve forgotten whether there was an AI disclaimer in the notes, but enough commenters called it out.

    There are YouTube guidelines on AI generation:
    _______________________________________

    We require that creators disclose when realistic content is made with altered or synthetic media, including Gen AI Labels may then appear within the video description information, and if content is related to sensitive topics like health, news, elections, or finance, we may also display a label on the video itself.

    We’ve also made updates to our privacy standards that make it possible to request the removal of AI-generated or other synthetic or altered content that simulates an identifiable individual, including their face or voice, using our privacy request process.

    https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/ai/
    _______________________________________

    Apparently Musk and VDH need to get on the stick to request removals

    There are already bills being considered at the federal and state levels, but the tech is outrunning them. We will see such bills and the sooner the better.

43. All the people who are complaining about “AI slop” won’t have a leg to stand after the tools have a couple more years to evolve.

    We can pick apart the Coke commercial for its (fairly small) flaws, but a similar Coke commercial from, say, 2028 won’t have those flaws, or far fewer.

    The point I’m trying to make is that there is a lot of prejudice against AI-generated material, largely driven by the fact that it’s been very flawed up until recently, and still has significant problems. But mark my words, an AI-generated song will hit the Top 10 in the next year, if it hasn’t already, and soon you literally won’t be able to tell the difference.

    The genie’s out of the bottle, and just hating on it (which seem to be a very popular reaction) isn’t going to do much good.

    There are legitimate things to be concerned about with respect to AI, but this commercial really doesn’t touch on that. Times are changing and we need to get used to it.

    No one is shedding tears for all those poor horse-and-buggy manufacturers.

44. There’s a cargo-cult a’comin’,
    It’s comin’ round the bend,
    We dunno when it gets here,
    But sure it gets here when
    (Everybody holler!)
    AI! AI! AI-YI-YI!

45. “Compassion and respect for all living beings — every creature, no matter how small or strong, deserves freedom, kindness, and life.”

    Does this apply to mosquitos, fleas, ticks, roaches, rats, viruses … ?

46. The point I’m trying to make is that there is a lot of prejudice against AI-generated material, largely driven by the fact that it’s been very flawed up until recently, and still has significant problems.

    Rick Gutleber:

    Your comment misses the point AesopFan and I are making. It’s not the quality of AI material, but the likelihood that people will mistake it for reality and thus be misled.

47. It cost 50 cents to produce. Most people don’t consciously see ads so it is probably almost as effective as a multimillion dollar quality produced ad. The AI will make fewer obvious errors over time and there will be no reason for anyone to make any other kind.

48. huxley 2:19pm: Exactly. Nobody expects “reality” from a Coke ad. But the example cited by AF wrt VD Hanson is very disturbing, even if they somehow managed to precisely convey Hanson’s views.

49. There no shortage of things to fear about AI, but its use for generating imagery for advertising is not really one of them. Advertising in general is about half truths, elided information, false premisis, and (on occasion) outright lies. As such we’ve all been primed for it. We all expect it. Everyone who grew up in the modern world with an IQ above room temperature intuitively knows these things about adverisments. We all know that the people in them are just paid actors. We know that we’re probably not getting the whole truth about any given product. We know that the product is being presented to us in the best possible light. So whether some animation in an ad is generated by a neural network or not is hardly anything to be terribly concerned about (unless you happen to be in the field of animation of course).

    AI generated deep fakes are another, far more concerning discussion.

50. A perfect example of “too clever by half” that descends into simply silly.

51. > Your comment misses the point AesopFan and I are making.

    Not really. I was going off on a tangent. The fact that AI-generated material can be used to deceive people is not what I was talking about, but it’s a real issue. I barely use Facebook any more, but I’ve seen tons of images posted that are clearly AI-generated being passed off by gullible users as the real thing. This issue goes back to the days of photo editing software, and even further to photo editing, period. But AI makes just that much easier to pull off.

    My particular interest in the matter is that people are strongly biased against things like AI music before even considering the music on its own merit. Yeah, most of it is awful, just like “real” music, but I’ve heard some amazing stuff.

52. I was surprised to see a tree sloth pop up: they aren’t exactly native to the Northern hemisphere, especially when it snows. But it’s AI, so who knows?

53. Seems OK.

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