Is There Even a “Real Thing” Anymore?

"Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." Stay with me on this...

A major fizzy sugar water brand has caused controversy with a video commercial for the second time in recent memory. YES, commercials still exist. Frankly, given the need for streaming ad revenue, they are in great demand….(Pundits take note. They're not dead…not even close…and I’m not including Super Bowl. 30/60 still in the lexicon) 

If you have yet to hear or see the current controversy, it features The Coca-Cola Company . I've always anticipated and looked forward to their Christmas ads. Yes, full confession…I, the Orthodox Jewish Boy I am, look forward to them with anticipation like anyone else. Possibly even more so, as an ad guy, I love seeing them renewed and refreshed every year. 

The issue at hand? The use of AI Technology to create its iconic "Holidays are Coming" campaign….How does the REAL THING use AI? It seems like a simple debate—Real is as Real is.  

According to a report from US-based NBC News, the ad fell flat with consumers:

“Coca-Cola is facing backlash online over an artificial intelligence-made Christmas promotional video that users are calling “soulless” and “devoid of any actual creativity.”

The AI-made video features everything from big red Coca-Cola trucks driving through snowy streets to people smiling in scarves and knitted hats holding Coca-Cola bottles. The video was meant to pay homage to the company’s 1995 commercial “Holidays Are Coming,” which featured similar imagery, but with human actors and real trucks.”

Do read the article…it seems the backlash, as they report it, is from industry creatives (I guess they are consumers, too) bemoaning the use of AI and its impact on "creativity" and the creative product—in this case, commercials. BTW….I'd bet that actual people (see my previous IMAGINE on "being out of touch"), had they been shown the spot…would not have had a clue how the sausage was made and probably could not have cared less….Hold that thought; I'll return to it.

PepsiCo had a controversy, several years ago, that ended with them pulling their rather long video and issuing a belated and un-heart-felt apology. Let's turn back the clock to April 2017. The US-based NBC News reported on the  Kendall Jenner Ad and the "Widespread condemnation following its release."

"The company said the ad 'features multiple lives, stories and emotional connections that show passion, joy, unbound and uninhibited moments.'

It was designed to 'truly reflect today's generation and what living for now looks like' and it described Jenner as someone who 'exemplifies owning 'Live For Now' moments.'"

"Live For Now" was PEPSI's platform, much like the "Real Thing" is COKE's. PEPSI thought they were being authentic (my loyal readers know that my view is that authentic means fake copy, by definition, vs. real), and if you buy into my definition, they were. Listen to the NBC report on this post: 

“It drew scathing criticism on social media from Bernice King, the youngest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She posted an image of her father mid-peaceful protest — literally being pushed back by a police line and tweeted: ‘If only Daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi.’”

PEPSI recovered from the scandal. (COKE, take note.) Although...clearly, all they had in common was that the spots were not created by either brand's lead Ad Agency. In PEPSI’s case, an in-house agency, publicly sure of its ability to put its agencies out of business, produced the sad attempt. COKE used an independent agency. In both cases, I bet that all were swinging for the Ad Award shows...sure of victory for their courageous creativity. Right.... 

Back to COKE.

As I said…consumers couldn't care less how we make stuff. They just want to be entertained and see ads that they connect to. The Ads that make them smile, laugh, or even cry, and if we are lucky (making our own luck), motivate them to buy or at the very least feel positive towards our products and services.  

To that end, Andrew Tindall wrote a must-read piece in The Drum, "I was wrong. People love Coca-Cola's AI remake of a Christmas classic." 

“Coca-Cola has just proven AI really is here. Don’t grab your pitchforks and head to your nearest Tesla dealership. Grab your nearest copy of How Brands Grow and the Long and Short of It. It’s time to double down on our strategic marketing guns.

Let AI worry about tactics. Marketers need to be strategic powerhouses now more than ever.”

I leave it to you to read the rest. It's a great lesson in humility…but even more so about what marketing is really about. 

I further suggest you think back to all the animated and CGI ads produced by COKE that we all loved. You'll probably be hard-pressed to find consumers "angry" that REAL has been compromised or demanding that they get pulled like the PEPSI debacle. 

That is not to say that the use of AI in an ad hasn't caused backlash or demand for its demise. In fact, Google was forced to pull an ad from its Paris Olympic rotation as reported by PR Daily: 

"The backlash was swift, both in the social media sphere and from conventional media. Washington Post Alexandra Petri cut right to the heart of the matter in an opinion piece:

What will these buffoons come up with next? 'Gemini, propose for me'? 'Gemini, tell my parents I love them'? Lying on your death bed, 'Gemini, write a letter to my children saying all the things I wish I'd been able to tell them'? 'What was my favorite thing about being alive?'

You're missing it! You're missing all of it!"

The difference is that Google was nailed for its portrayal of an offensive use-case (and you, loyal reader, know my obsession with use-cases!!) NOT for how they used AI to make the Ad.

Bottom line…the lesson to all us marketers?

AI has its place. COKE is on the right track (but why use AI actors who had to give you permission? Use-case folks.). The ads are fine. What they got wrong was making the ad (designed to evoke the Holiday spirit in all of us) about the AI. The independent agency was thinking about their investors and awards. They weren't thinking about the audience (for whom it was meant), who could care less….It's a distraction. (You mean Elfiba wasn't really flying? I'm shocked!) 

In short, focus on the impact, not the process. The impact will be clear or not. Who cares how it's made as long as it makes a difference? Clearly, we don't care... 

Final thought: Great advertising is all about the story. YES...WE KNOW...data and targeting and tech,…but they are nothing without the story. PEPSI and Google missed that. COKE got that part right….just off-roaded on the story of the story of the story. Confucius sets us right:

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

Enjoy the REAL THING. Just don't vote for its use of AI in the next AWARD SHOW….

What’s your view?