Coca-Cola’s Second AI-Generated Ad Draws Criticism

Kaitlyn Kim
Staff Writer

For many major corporations, the end of the calendar is a gold mine of opportunity. With upcoming dates like Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and the New Year, the opportunity for profit appears to be endless.  

However, the world-famous Coca-Cola company has caused public disapproval for the second time with their most recent advertisement, appearing to be entirely made from artificial intelligence (AI). Of the three commercials forming Coca Cola’s 2025 holiday campaign, one of them especially caught the public eye. The AI-generated video published by Coca Cola appears to mimic their own iconic 1995 “The Holidays are Coming” original, but with glaring and glitchy inconsistencies.  

The original commercial caters to the Christmas spirit through its use of Christmas lights. The sequence of the commercial begins with trees in the wilderness, only vaguely visible due to the darkness. Suddenly, an ornament appears on one of the branches. Then stars become visible on the tips of the trees. The stars light up as they appear, before the camera reveals a truck rolling through.  

This recognizable Coca-Cola-red truck is covered in warm, white Christmas lights. The lights are visible and neatly designed, lining the edges of the vehicle and the different sections creating the truck. As the truck drives by, it goes past snow-covered trees before a reflection of the truck is on the screen. The advertisement continues to carry on this notion of bringing light as a large line of trucks drive by, lighting up trees, Christmas lights on a man’s house, and the bridge it drives on. 

The ad ends with an animated Santa Clause on the back of the truck taking a swig of Coca-Cola with text reading, “Nothing lights up Christmas like Coca-Cola” as the jingle “Holidays are coming!” fades off in the background.  

Compared to the original advertisement, much is lacking in the 2025 ad. The 2025 ad begins with Santa Claus placing a toy truck as he takes a swig of Coca-Cola. The truck then transforms into a real truck as it drives through a festive village. Festive lights continue to flash as the truck drives by.

However, an odd creative choice is made with AI-created animals replacing the humans on the original set. Polar bears, penguins, rabbits, and squirrels look on in awe and excitement as the truck passes by. An even odder creative choice was the inclusion of animals not normally associated with the winter season, such as panda bears, a sloth, and seals. 

Vigilant viewers have also spotted inconsistencies with the famous Coca-Cola truck, the focus of the entire commercial. It’s been noted to have changed shape as it rolled in, the vehicle itself appearing to lose and gain wheels during different shots of the ad, as well as the size of the cargo box shifting between small and large sizes.  

Overall, the advertisement was poorly received with an estimated 10,000 likes and 160,000 dislikes. The top comment on the official advertisement on YouTube reads, “The most profitable commercial in Pepsi’s history.” This comment has received a total of 18,000 likes, more than the video itself.  

This is not the first time Coca-Cola has been under fire for creating “AI slop.” Another advertisement published in 2024 received similar backlash and likely inspired the entirely-animal ensemble in the 2025 commercial. The 2024 maintained the same overall concept with the “Holidays are coming!” jingle in the background, however this one is noted to have humans that are uncanny to the viewers. Appearing as a blend between the original 1995 version and the current 2025 version, both animals and humans are present. 

However, the human faces have received the brunt of the criticism as they lack the expressions the 1995 actors had. They remain smiling and unblinking towards the camera for the few seconds they are on screen before a choppy cut is done to another scene. This advertisement had an estimated 3,000 likes and 24,000 dislikes.

While other companies may be profiting off the winter season, it appears Coca-Cola has re-opened a wound with their 2025 holiday commercial. A conversation has stirred once again about the ethics relating to AI.  

While from a business perspective, AI expedites production time and reduces costs, the overwhelmingly negative response to the AI commercials proves that consumers do not want to see AI-generated ads. While criticisms over the concerns of job losses as well as the environmental damage done with using AI remain active, it’s equally clear that the quality loss and lack of human spirit is what truly loses the customer.  

Despite this, Coca-Cola remains pro-AI and the future for AI-based advertisement appears to be murkier by the minute.  

 

Contact Kaitlyn at kimkaitl@shu.edu