This week we look at the significant backlash and technical inconsistencies surrounding Coca-Cola’s 2025 AI-generated "Holidays are Coming" Christmas advertisement, the second fully AI commercial the company has released. Viewers and critics pointed out glitches like inconsistent truck shapes and wheel counts in the video, highlighting the current shortcomings of generative video technology, though the latest ad was noted as an improvement over the previous year. Despite the critiques from the creative industry—who fear job losses—Coca-Cola executives defended the decision, citing increased speed, lower cost, and efficiency as key benefits, while claiming that the average consumer enjoyed the ads. The company and the AI studio, Secret Level, maintained that human creativity is still essential, even as the process required fewer human artists and involved generating over 70,000 video clips. Ultimately, the controversy underscores the ongoing debate within the creative and advertising industries about the ethics and quality of fully generative AI content.
