Coca-Cola also learned that AI usage is a touchy subject for creatives and the public alike, as people are anxious about how the technology might impact their livelihoods.
4. Toys ‘R’ Us
The Big AI moment
In June, the toy retailer debuted its AI-generated “The Origin of Toys ‘R’ Us” ad featuring a child-version of its late founder Charles Lazarus.
The brand’s production arm, Toys ‘R’ Us Studios, and creative agency Native Foreign used OpenAI’s text-to-video tool Sora to depict Lazarus as a child along with the company’s mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe. The ad is the first brand film using the AI software.
It also used corrective VFX and an original music score.
What happened next?
Toys ‘R’ Us’ ad received mixed reactions, with some users on X liking it, others not so much.
AI video maker Allen T. pointed out discrepancies in the depictions of Lazarus throughout the ad. “Hands still need work,” he wrote in one post.
Lessons learned
Native Foreign’s chief creative officer (CCO) Nik Kleverov said Sora allowed the team “to tell this incredible story with remarkable speed and efficiency” in just a few weeks.
Per The Wall Street Journal, Miller Olko said that the ad was less expensive, less time-consuming, and required less manpower than it would without AI.
“It was a test. I think it was successful,” she said, per NBC News. “I think there was a lot of learnings. If the opportunity arises again, and it’s the right fit, we use it but it’s one of many different things that we would do.”
5. Pedigree
