US Trends

is the coca cola ad ai

Yes, the new viral Coca‑Cola Christmas/holiday ad people are talking about right now is largely AI-generated , but it is not “pure AI” with no humans involved.

What “AI ad” means here

Recent Coca‑Cola holiday campaigns (like the 2024 “Secret Santa”/AI Santas work and the 2025 AI remake of “Holidays Are Coming”) were:

  • Built using generative video tools (e.g., models similar to Runway, Luma, Sora, etc.) to create most of the visuals instead of traditional live-action shoots or full hand‑crafted CGI.
  • Assembled from tens of thousands of AI clips that were refined, selected, and edited by a small team of human specialists over a short production window (around 30 days instead of the usual many months).

So the ad is AI‑driven in visuals and production , but planned, directed, and edited by humans.

Human vs AI in the Coca‑Cola ad

Even in the “fully AI” holiday spots, several parts are still human‑controlled.

  • Human parts
    • Strategy, story, and emotional tone were created by Coca‑Cola’s marketing and agency teams.
* Characters, scenes, and timing were directed, picked, and polished by human creatives and editors.
  • AI parts
    • Backgrounds, trucks, snowy cities, animals, and many character animations were generated with AI video/image models.
* Some “digital actors” are AI versions of real people created from licensed likenesses.

Why people say it “looks AI”

A lot of the current discussion comes from viewers spotting typical AI quirks.

  • Glitches and oddities
    • Weird truck wheels and vehicle physics in the AI “Holidays Are Coming” remake.
* Uncanny motion, inconsistent objects, and that glossy “AI sheen” on people and scenes.
  • Emotional reaction
    • Critics call it “soulless” or “sloppy” and complain that it loses the grounded, filmed feel of older Coke Christmas ads.
* At the same time, testing panels still rated the AI holiday ads very highly on emotional impact, showing that many regular viewers simply see “a Coke Christmas ad” and enjoy it.

Is Coca‑Cola “baiting” controversy?

Some marketing and forum discussions suggest Coca‑Cola knows exactly what it’s doing.

  • The brand has publicly framed these spots as experiments in generative AI , positioning itself as an early adopter.
  • Commenters argue that pushing the “AI ad” angle guarantees tech coverage, YouTube breakdowns, and Reddit threads that keep Coca‑Cola in the conversation all season.

So in simple terms:

The Coca‑Cola ad people are arguing about is AI‑generated in visuals and animation, but it is still very much designed and controlled by human creatives behind the scenes.

TL;DR:

  • Yes, it’s an AI‑generated Coca‑Cola holiday ad.
  • Humans still wrote the story, directed the look, and edited the final film.
  • People are split: some love the innovation, others hate the glitches and “AI vibe.”

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.