Viewers of Coca-Cola Christmas ads are up in arms about modern changes for 2024

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Christmas ad lovers are in uproar after learning that Coca-Cola’s festive 2024 ad was created using artificial intelligence – and killed Santa Claus in the process.

The 15-second recreation of the famous ‘Holidays are Coming’ ad marks the company’s first use of generative AI in a Christmas TV campaign.

As a result, no real person was cast to play Santa Claus.

The advert first appeared on screens in 1995 when the iconic Coca-Cola truck drove through a wintery landscape to the soundtrack of ‘Holidays Are Coming’. For many, seeing the brand’s ad has become symbolic of the start of the holiday season.

The original ad, according to Coca-Cola, used three actual 40-foot trucks, each weighing two tons and equipped with 30,000 light bulbs.

In this year’s ad, a fleet of Coca-Cola trucks drives through a snowy village. A truck door opens and a man is handed a glass bottle of Coke Zero by an unseen figure, but that figure is assumed to be Santa Claus as we get a fleeting glimpse of his white cuff and red sleeve. Revelers in woolen hats line the streets, happily sipping Coke Zero as the soundtrack plays “Holidays Are Coming.” Santa Claus would otherwise not appear.

Viewers online have shared their disapproval of the changes to this year’s advert, with one person writing on from the advertisements has been removed here! It’s not Christmas without the Coca-Cola train!!! Thank you!”

One person said the AI ​​element of the advert made them “sick”, while another added: “The world will be over in a second if the Coca-Cola Christmas advert is made with AI.”

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Others, who had not yet learned that the ad was created using generative AI, asked online, “Why does the Coca-Cola ad look like AI?”

“Sad to see this was made with an AI generated program,” said another.

Javier Meza, EU Chief Marketing Officer at Coca-Cola, said the brand was adapting to “the present” by integrating AI.

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“We didn’t start by saying, ‘Okay, we need to do this with AI,’” he said Marketing weekand added: “The brief was: we want to bring Holidays Are Coming into the present and then we explored AI as a solution for that.”

He added that AI was an “efficient” way to create the ad while saving time and money.

A Coca-Cola spokesperson said: “Coca-Cola’s exciting venture into AI-generated storytelling demonstrates Coca-Cola’s commitment to embracing innovation, leveraging our collaborations with the best creative and technology partners, while staying true to its core values: spreading happiness and creating real magic!”