Toys R Us Studio and Native Foreign, the retailer’s entertainment arm, tapped into OpenAI’s Sora—a text-to-video AI tool yet to be widely released to the public—to make this film.
The controversy: The film sparked an outcry on social media among the creator community for allegedly using an AI tool trained on plagiarized work of artists and unlicensed IP. One creator called it a work of “abomination,” while others criticized the quality of the output, stating that Lazarus appears to look different across several frames.
Analysis: Kantar analyzed this brand film using its LINK AI, a creative development tool trained on thousands of ads assessed by real people. The spot by the toy company scored reasonably well across most metrics.
The creative was rated as impactful, placing in the 74th percentile of all ads in the database. It was also deemed likely to aid long-term brand building, with a “Power Score” in the 74th percentile. However, its “Persuasion” score was average, at the 55th percentile, indicating that it’s not likely to encourage people to purchase in the short term.
“Ultimately, any ads or content produced have to be effective and not get caught up in the battle for efficiency that AI can bring,” said Jane Ostler, executive vp, global thought leader at Kantar. “Effectiveness is about your ad achieving its objectives and means your ad needs to bring out the meaningful difference of your brand, be persuasive, and create an emotional connection.”
Levi’s AI-generated BIPOC models raise concerns
The ad: Although not an ad, Levi’s announced its partnership last year with Lalaland.ai, an Amsterdam-based company that uses AI to create realistic avatars for fashion and retailer brands.
The controversy: The announcement triggered a social media uproar, leaving people wondering why the brand wouldn’t just hire more diverse models and calling the decision “lazy” and “problematic.” Others warned that AI-generated models would deprive the BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and other people of color) community of job opportunities.
