Coca-Cola has released its new 2025 holiday ad - and like last year, it was produced with gen AI. The ad was created by Los Angeles-based AI studio Secret Level, featuring the classic Coca-Cola trucks, animated animals, and Santa Claus. But compared to last year, there were some improvements.
Production used even fewer humans - Coca-Cola reduced the team from 50 people last year to just 20 this year, explicitly touting the smaller headcount as progress. Secret Level founder Jason Zada noted the ad required significantly less human involvement than the company's first fully AI-generated 2024 Christmas spot.
Company defends approach despite criticism - Pratik Thakar, Coca-Cola's global VP and head of generative AI, stated: "The genie is out of the bottle, and you're not going to put it back in," while claiming the craftsmanship is "10 times better" than last year. Zada dismissed critics as "the loudest" voices who are "just afraid" for their jobs.
Social media reaction was swift and harsh - Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch responded on X: "'The genie is out of the bottle, and you're not going to put it back in'—your boss firing you on Christmas." Multiple commenters criticized the ad's visual quality and the company's apparent pride in reducing creative jobs.
Testing reportedly shows split reception - While Zada claims "average people really enjoyed it" based on internal testing, YouTube comments included reactions like "The best ad I've ever seen for Pepsi," and observers noted characters resembling copyrighted properties from Zootopia and Sing.
This marks Coca-Cola's third consecutive year leaning into AI-generated holiday marketing, following a 2023 co-created AI ad and last year's fully AI-generated spot. The approach positions a $292 billion brand as a test case for whether AI-generated advertising can overcome aesthetic and ethical concerns—or whether the creative industry backlash will eventually force a recalculation.
