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“70,000 Prompts”: Coca-Cola’s Holiday Commercial Proves AI Isn’t The Clever Girl She Thinks She Is
Coca-Cola has done it again… And not in a good way. The multi-billion dollar beverage company caught heat last year after releasing an AI-generated holiday commercial that many people were less than thrilled about. Not only was the ad mocked as cheap and tacky, but critics also hit out at Coca-Cola for using AI and taking work away from real human beings in the creative industry.
The company’s latest “Holidays Are Coming” campaign features two AI-generated commercials. The first was released in November. In it, anthropomorphic animals can be seen admiring the stars of the show: the shiny, red Coca-Cola trucks arriving ahead of Christmas.
Filmmakers, other experts and ordinary people have had a field day dissecting the 60-second ad. They claim that despite 70,000 AI prompts, many of the shots don’t match up and that there are loads of other issues. But Coca-Cola seems unbothered.
RELATED:
Despite massive backlash last year, Coca-Cola has released another AI-generated commercial ahead of Christmas 2025
Image credits: Coca-Cola
In case you missed it, you can view the “Holidays Are Coming” commercial here:
The backlash came pouring in faster than a cold Pepsi, with many mocking Coca-Cola for not reading the room
It wasn’t long before critics went into detail about what’s wrong with the ad, and with AI in general
Image credits: Coca-Cola
Filmmaker Joe Russo revealed that it had taken 70,000 AI prompts and even then, the ad was filled with mistakes
Image credits: Coca-Cola
Image credits: joerussotoks
You can watch Joe Russo’s full video here:
@joerussotoksCoca Cola’s AI Holiday Commercial took over 70,000 prompts.♬ original sound – Joe Russo
Russo wasn’t the only expert to poke holes in the Coca-Cola AI commercial
Image credits: Coca-Cola
Creator, Nate B. Jones felt that the ad was “AI slop” and probably took more than 70,000 AI prompts
Image credits: Coca-Cola
Image credits: Coca-Cola
Image credits: Coca-Cola
Image credits: Coca-Cola
Image credits: nate.b.jones
“This is not how to AI guys”: watch what Nate B. Jones had to say
@nate.b.jones This is not how to AI guys #ai#learn#learnontiktok#chatgpt#cocacola♬ original sound – Nate
Image credits: Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola plans to restructure its workforce in 2026, as it brings in even more AI
Coca-Cola’s latest AI ad campaign, titled the “Holidays Are Coming” should have stirred up feelings of nostalgia. It was meant to be a throwback to the company’s 1995 holiday commercial of the same name. Instead, the tv ad seems to have brought up frustration, anger, mockery, and even a few calls to boycott the beverage giant.
One of the main reasons Coca-Cola is facing criticism over its AI ads is because they potentially put jobs at risk, and take food (and drinks) off the tables of creatives and film industry workers.
It’s clear the beverage giant is on a mission to cut time and money – and has no problem roping in AI to help.
“Before, when we were doing the shooting and all the standard processes for a project, we would start a year in advance,” said Chief Marketing Officer Manolo Arroyo. “Now, you can get it done in around a month.”
And it doesn’t stop at tv commercials… Chief Executive James Quincy said in October that the company would be restructuring its workforce in 2026, and it’ll be implementing more AI and agentic tech.
According to the company’s advertising agency, around 100 people worked on the recent AI “Holidays Are Coming” campaign. Coca-Cola maintains that while the production was faster than usual, it wasn’t purely about pressing a few buttons.
“The core of this, the engine of this, is human storytellers,” Arroyo said.
“In a behind-the-scenes film shared by Coke, a voice-over discusses the ‘team of artists’ who “work frame-by-frame, often pixel-by-pixel’ to touch up and tweak the festive images generated by the AI,” reported the Wall Street Journal.
But not everyone is buying it.
“All that for what is still a crummy looking product,” quipped Futurism.com, adding that the campaign was an “embarrassing reflection on Coke’s AI efforts.”
Image credits: Coca-Cola
“People don’t want AI”: many netizens agreed with the critics
But not everyone hated Coca-Cola’s new commercial
Some even defended AI, saying that we still have a long road ahead of us
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What do you think ?
Spencer's slave no longer 2 weeks ago
Why is AI referred to as female, insinuating we're a bit thick?
Beak Hookage 2 weeks ago
Possibly it's related to the fact that fictional robots of the non-killbot variety (and sometimes not even then) are almost always female by default, also physically attractive even if they're not serving a purpose that requires them to be good-looking. And why the super computers always seem to have an attractive female voice.
Load More Replies...
Nicole Weymann 2 weeks ago
I'm baffled how riled up people can get over an advertisement spot, when I hate ads with a passion and skip them wherever I can (okay, also kinda riled up I guess). "Took the heart and the soul out of it": REALLY?? "Heart and soul"? It's a business aiming at selling stuff they mostly don't need to people who often can't afford it, influencing their decisions away from rational thought - basically an attempt at brainwashing - and 9/10 as annoying as someone standing next to you constantly tugging at your sleeve and repeating themselves over and over right next to your ear. I'll admit it's funny to contemplate (like commenters did) on how Pepsi may be the major profiteer of this bungling, but that's it.
Tabitha 1 week ago
Back when companies had the wisdom to hire actual creative talent, we used to enjoy seeing what they came up with for the holidays. Same with the Super Bowl. A lot of it was beautifully done, innovative, nostalgic, funny, you name it. But it was always creative and original, and was made by talented people. With the explosion—-and not just overuse, but also rampant misuse—-of the AI that every company jumped the gun to get way too prematurely, and wasted way too much money on, that’s not yet at the point of development where it’s any good. It should never have been released so soon, and should still be in development, waiting to be released when it’s so good it’s hard to tell the difference between it and human-produced content. Of course, it will never ever be able to reproduce the heart and soul that the best creative minds can put into their productions. There will never be an algorithm that can do that, no matter how sophisticated the machine becomes.
Load More Replies... 
JayWantsACat 2 weeks ago
I guess that they saved using AI was worth the backlash and loss of business for them. lmao
Spencer's slave no longer 2 weeks ago
Why is AI referred to as female, insinuating we're a bit thick?
Beak Hookage 2 weeks ago
Possibly it's related to the fact that fictional robots of the non-killbot variety (and sometimes not even then) are almost always female by default, also physically attractive even if they're not serving a purpose that requires them to be good-looking. And why the super computers always seem to have an attractive female voice.
Load More Replies... Nicole Weymann 2 weeks ago
I'm baffled how riled up people can get over an advertisement spot, when I hate ads with a passion and skip them wherever I can (okay, also kinda riled up I guess). "Took the heart and the soul out of it": REALLY?? "Heart and soul"? It's a business aiming at selling stuff they mostly don't need to people who often can't afford it, influencing their decisions away from rational thought - basically an attempt at brainwashing - and 9/10 as annoying as someone standing next to you constantly tugging at your sleeve and repeating themselves over and over right next to your ear. I'll admit it's funny to contemplate (like commenters did) on how Pepsi may be the major profiteer of this bungling, but that's it.
Tabitha 1 week ago
Back when companies had the wisdom to hire actual creative talent, we used to enjoy seeing what they came up with for the holidays. Same with the Super Bowl. A lot of it was beautifully done, innovative, nostalgic, funny, you name it. But it was always creative and original, and was made by talented people. With the explosion—-and not just overuse, but also rampant misuse—-of the AI that every company jumped the gun to get way too prematurely, and wasted way too much money on, that’s not yet at the point of development where it’s any good. It should never have been released so soon, and should still be in development, waiting to be released when it’s so good it’s hard to tell the difference between it and human-produced content. Of course, it will never ever be able to reproduce the heart and soul that the best creative minds can put into their productions. There will never be an algorithm that can do that, no matter how sophisticated the machine becomes.
Load More Replies... JayWantsACat 2 weeks ago
I guess that they saved using AI was worth the backlash and loss of business for them. lmao
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