AI ads that sparked debate: what brands should learn

Since 2024, AI ads have moved from festival stages to the most expensive airtime there is: Coca-Cola’s Christmas, the NBA Finals, the Super Bowl. Some worked. Others were pulled within days. Here you will find five verified cases, what the research says about audiences, and practical lessons for deciding whether and how to use AI in your next ad.

The common thread is easy to state and hard to execute: audiences do not reject the tool, they reject the absence of an idea and of care. When AI becomes the message, the ad dates within a week. When it serves a story you could not shoot any other way, it is simply craft again.

Five cases, from 2024 to today

Toys“R”Us, “The Origin of Toys“R”Us” (2024)

In June 2024 Toys“R”Us premiered a film about the brand’s origins at Cannes Lions, directed by Nik Kleverov of the agency Native Foreign and made “almost entirely” with Sora, before OpenAI had opened the model to the public. According to Retail TouchPoints, hundreds of iterative shots were cut down to a couple of dozen, with corrective effects in post and an original score by Aaron Marsh.

The response from film professionals, gathered by Decrypt, was harsh: inconsistent hands, characters that shifted from scene to scene, and the charge that the brand had skimped on actors and creatives.

Coca-Cola, “Holidays Are Coming” (2024 and 2025)

In November 2024 Coca-Cola replaced its 1995 Christmas classic with an AI-generated version for the first time, made by the studios Secret Level, Silverside AI and Wild Card. Online, it quickly became the year’s “soulless” ad (TechInformed). Yet in System1's testing it scored 5.9 stars, the maximum, against a category average of 3.0. The test panel, however, was not told it was made with AI.

In 2025 the brand tried again. According to the behind-the-scenes film reported by TODAY, five specialists produced more than 70,000 clips in 30 days. People all but disappeared from the frame in favour of animals, but viewers still spotted the famous trucks sprouting extra wheels, and the company declined to comment (Campaign).

Kalshi at the NBA Finals (2025)

In June 2025 the prediction-market platform Kalshi aired an ad made with Google’s Veo 3 during Game 3 of the NBA Finals: a man riding an alligator in a paddling pool, an alien drinking beer, deliberately chaotic editing (eWeek).

Director PJ Accetturo explained that he used Gemini to turn the script into prompts and needed 300–400 generations to get 15 usable clips, at a stated cost of $2,000 over two or three days (MarkTechPost). He added a caveat of his own: cheap does not mean anyone can do it, and the most valuable skill is still comedy writing.

McDonald’s Netherlands (2025)

In December 2025 McDonald’s Netherlands pulled “The most terrible time of the year” within days. The 45-second Christmas ad, generated entirely with AI, was made by TBWA\Neboko with the production company The Sweetshop (NBC News).

The producers defended the work, describing thousands of takes shaped in the edit like any high-end film (The Drum). But the criticism went beyond technique: a Christmas made of disasters, told through synthetic images, stacked two risks in a single ad.

Svedka at the Super Bowl (2026)

On 8 February 2026 Svedka brought to Super Bowl LX what Adweek called the event’s first “primarily AI-generated” ad, featuring its Fembot, back after a twelve-year break. According to Sazerac, quoted by TechCrunch, it took around four months with the studio Silverside to rebuild the character and train the AI on her expressions and movements.

The result: 53rd out of 54 in the USA TODAY Ad Meter, and an Adweek headline declaring that AI “isn’t an idea”. Ironically, Sazerac’s CMO had said much the same: AI is not creative, and people still have to brief, direct, edit and iterate (ComfyUI).

What the audience data says

Social media reactions are loud, but the research points the same way. A NielsenIQ study from December 2024, with more than 2,000 participants and around 150 measured by EEG, found that people intuitively identify most AI-generated ads and describe them as “annoying”, “boring” and “confusing”. Even the ones rated high quality triggered weaker memory activation than traditional ads.

In January 2026 IAB and Sonata Insights measured the gap between those who make ads and those who watch them: 82% of executives believe Gen Z and Millennials feel positive about AI ads, but only 45% of those consumers do. Among Gen Z, negative sentiment reaches 39%. And during the 2026 Super Bowl, Meltwater found that nearly half of online conversations about AI ads were negative.

System1's result for Coca-Cola completes the picture. When the execution holds up and the brand codes are strong, the ad works. When the AI shows, or becomes the subject, the verdict shifts from what you are saying to how you made it.

AI ads: five lessons for brands

1. Start with the idea, not the engine. Svedka and Toys“R”Us made the technology the message, and the novelty lasted one news cycle. Javier Meza, Coca-Cola’s European CMO, told Marketing Week that the brief did not start with AI but with the need to bring the ad into the present. That is the right order.
2. Avoid the “AI look”. Plastic skin, uncertain hands, multiplying wheels: audiences look for them and find them. NIQ notes that poor visuals increase cognitive load and pull attention away from the message. Faces, light and objects that stay consistent from shot to shot are credibility, not a technical nicety.
3. Selection is direction. 70,000 clips for Coca-Cola, 300–400 generations for Kalshi’s 15 shots: AI produces abundance, and the value lies in what you throw away. You need someone who knows what they are looking for before anything is generated.
4. Use it where it adds something. Impossible sets, characters who travel across eras, turning an ad around for a live sporting moment, versions for different markets and formats. Kalshi played on speed and absurdity; a photoreal remake of a much-loved classic starts the comparison at a disadvantage.
5. Take twice the care over tone. McDonald’s shows that an AI ad is judged twice, on the message and on the medium. A divisive idea made with AI doubles the risk.

Transparency pays, and in the EU it is the law

In the same IAB research, 73% of Gen Z and Millennials said clear disclosure of AI use would either increase their likelihood to buy or make no difference, and more than half want fully AI-generated ads to be labelled. IAB has also published a risk-based disclosure framework: disclose when AI materially affects authenticity, identity or representation in a way that could mislead.

In Europe there is also the law. Article 50 of the AI Act has applied since 2 August 2026 (European Commission): anyone using AI to generate deepfakes must disclose it. For evidently artistic or fictional work, it is enough to flag the presence of generated content in an appropriate way that does not spoil the viewing. This is general information, not legal advice.

In practice: agree the wording and placement of the disclosure in pre-production, alongside rights and territories, not the day before launch.

Our approach

At Kult, AI is the tool and the direction stays human. In the Ronaldo 980 Goals reel for Fabrizio Romano, the idea came before the engine: one stance, six shirts, a whole career. AI holds the stadium, the light and the framing perfectly still while only the player changes, something no physical set could do.

Every step, from concept to take selection, is approved before the next one starts, as in our three-act method. If you are planning an ad, take a look at our work or see how we make cinematic ads.

Frequently asked questions

Are brands already using AI to make their ads?

Yes, and increasingly so. According to IAB, in early 2026 83% of US advertising executives said their company had used AI in creative work, up from 60% in 2024, mostly for social, display and TV.

Do you have to disclose that an ad was made with AI?

In the EU, since 2 August 2026 the AI Act requires deepfakes, meaning realistic content that could pass as authentic, to be disclosed; for clearly fictional work a notice that does not spoil the viewing is enough. This is general information, not legal advice, so check your own case with a lawyer.

How do you avoid the fake 'AI look' in an ad?

Through consistency and selection: the same faces, light and objects in every shot, and discarding any take with even minor errors. It also helps to pick ideas where AI does something a physical set could not, rather than imitating ordinary footage.

Sources

1. Toys 'R' Us Celebrates its Renaissance with New AI-Generated Origin Film · Retail TouchPoints, 2024-06-24
2. Toys’R’Us Ad Made With AI Ignites Controversy · Decrypt, 2024-06-25
3. Coca-Cola’s AI-generated 'Holidays Are Coming' ad sparks debate · TechInformed, 2024-11-18
4. Coca-Cola AI Christmas ad: Holidays Are Coming 2024 · LBB Online, 2024-11-15
5. Coca-Cola launches new AI version of 'Holidays Are Coming' · Marketing Week, 2025-11-03
6. Coca-Cola’s AI-generated holiday ads face backlash (TODAY) · NBC Chicago / TODAY, 2025-11-04
7. Coca-Cola reignites AI ad debate with new holiday campaign · Campaign, 2025-11-05
8. AI-Generated Ad Created with Google’s Veo3 Airs During NBA Finals, Slashing Production Costs by 95% · MarkTechPost, 2025-06-14
9. First Completely AI-Generated Ad Played During NBA Finals · eWeek, 2025-06-16
10. Not lovin' it: McDonald’s pulls AI-generated Christmas ad after social media backlash · NBC News, 2025-12
11. 'The most terrible ad of the year': McDonald’s pulls AI ad · The Drum, 2025-12-11
12. Svedka Bets on AI and Its Fembot to Make Super Bowl History · Adweek, 2026-02-03
13. Super Bowl LX ads (Svedka 'Shake Your Bots Off') · TechCrunch, 2026-02-08
14. Creatives React: Svedka’s Forgettable Super Bowl Ad Proves AI Isn’t an Idea · Adweek, 2026-02-08
15. Best 2026 Super Bowl commercials: All 54 ranked according to USA TODAY Ad Meter · USA TODAY (via AOL), 2026-02
16. Svedka x Silverside: Shake Your Bots Off (customer story) · ComfyUI, 2026-02
17. NIQ Research Uncovers Hidden Consumer Attitudes Toward AI-Generated Ads · NielsenIQ, 2024-12-12
18. The AI Ad Gap Widens · IAB / Sonata Insights, 2026-01-15
19. IAB Releases Industry’s First AI Transparency and Disclosure Framework · IAB, 2026-01-15
20. AI ads face skepticism · Meltwater, 2026-02-08
21. Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (Artificial Intelligence Act), Article 50 · EUR-Lex, 2024-07-12
22. Guidelines on transparency of AI-generated content · European Commission, 2026-08-06