Fake magic: Coca-Cola doubles down on AI for its Christmas ads

Beverage maker Coca-Cola has again reimagined its classic “Holidays Are Coming” ads using artificial intelligence (AI) because it’s cheaper and faster than human work.

Third time’s a charm? Coca-Cola will be hoping so next year, as it faces backlash over its AI-generated Christmas ads for the second year in a row.

The company released yet another round of AI-generated holiday commercials featuring its iconic truck caravan heading into town, ironically promising to bring “real magic.”

The new ads don’t differ much from last year’s “uncanny” and “soulless” commercials, but truck wheels now actually turn instead of gliding on the ice, and AI-generated humans are gone – except for Santa’s hands opening a bottle of Coke.

This year’s commercials, which will be aired in around 140 countries, feature only cartoon animals, including polar bears and tropical sloths, who eagerly anticipate the arrival of the Christmas caravan.

Coca-Cola partnered with California-based Silverside and Secret Level to create this year’s Christmas ads, two of the same studios that worked on its holiday commercials in 2024, according to The Wall Street Journal.

While Coca-Cola refused to say how much the campaign cost, its representatives told the publication that it was cheaper and faster to produce than a typical, non-AI production, noting that “you can get it done in around a month.”

In a behind-the-scenes clip shared online, Coca-Cola said the team behind the Christmas ad had to go “beyond simple prompting” to shape the animals, perfect their textures, and capture “those big sparkly eyes.”

It said five specialists worked on and refined 70,000 video clips in just 30 days. Overall, around 100 people worked on the campaign, according to Coca-Cola, which it said was about the same size as non-AI production teams of the past.

“The best ad I’ve ever seen for Pepsi”

Coca-Cola is pushing ahead with its use of AI despite concerns from creative industries and overwhelmingly negative reactions online, where users described its new commercials as “the best ad I’ve ever seen for Pepsi,” “terrible,” and “real slop.”

Others negatively compared the reimagined ads to the 1995 original, noting “zero thought about the emotional connection and craft that made them iconic.”

One user on X said: “2025 AI slop cheap Coca-Cola commercial, you will *never* be the 1990s festively warm and comforting Coca-Cola Christmas commercial.”

2025 ai slop cheap coca cola commercial, you will *never* be 1990's festively warm and comforting coca cola christmas commercial https://t.co/rLvr9RTYfa pic.twitter.com/ZZmXMENHpY

undefined kiara☃️ (@hrryrem) November 3, 2025

Coca-Cola is not alone in relying on AI for its advertising. Others, including companies such as H&M and Heinz, have also jumped on the bandwagon. And just last week, Google released its first commercial that was entirely generated by AI.

The tech giant, however, avoided causing controversy, as the ad promoted Google AI Mode and showcased the capabilities of Veo 3, the video generator used to produce it.

Google said that consumers didn’t really care if the ads were created using AI, and it may be right. Despite the backlash, Coca-Cola’s Christmas ads scored highly among regular consumers last year, according to System1, a UK-based researcher. This could suggest that people either don’t care or weren’t aware that AI was used.

A survey earlier this year by research firm Attest found that 46% of consumers in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US were uncomfortable with the use of AI in advertising, down from 49% last year.

Unlock more exclusive Cybernews content on YouTube.