Coca-Cola faces heavy backlash over AI-generated Christmas ad

For nearly thirty years, the sight of illuminated red trucks rumbling through the snow has signaled the start of the holiday season for millions. This year, Coca-Cola brought those trucks back, but with a twist that left a bitter taste for many: the entire thing was made with generative AI.

The 15-second spot is a modernized take on its classic 1995 campaign, Holidays Are Coming. It marks Coca-Cola’s first time leaning on AI for a flagship holiday TV commercial, and viewers online made their frustration heard almost immediately.

Trading real trucks for generative pixels

The original 1995 commercial was a massive physical production. It featured real 40-foot trucks wrapped in 30,000 light bulbs driving through winter landscapes, anchored by an infectious soundtrack. Over decades, it evolved from a simple soft drink promo into a genuine holiday staple.

This year’s version kept the iconic trucks and the familiar jingle, but stripped away the human grit. A fleet rolls through an AI-rendered snowy village while villagers in beanies sip Coke Zero. Santa Claus, traditionally the emotional anchor of the ad, is practically missing, reduced to a brief glimpse of a red sleeve and white cuff handing someone a bottle.

Fans were not amused. Viewers quickly took to social media to call out the uncanny aesthetic, with one commenter writing that the world is over if even the Coke Christmas ad is made by machines.

The 'magic button' defense

Coca-Cola leadership quickly stepped in to defend the project. Javier Meza, Coca-Cola’s EU chief marketing officer, told Marketing Week that the brief was never simply to force AI into the campaign, but rather to bring the classic concept into the present day, with generative tools emerging as the natural answer.

Creative pros who work in the trenches also pushed back against the criticism. Nik Kleverov, chief creative officer at Native Foreign—the agency behind the viral Toys"R"Us Sora commercial earlier this year—noted that finishing a high-end AI piece requires intense human craftsmanship. In his view, critics assume creators just pressed a magic button, ignoring the endless prompt tweaks and fine-tuning happening behind the scenes.

Yet for the public, technical effort did not make up for what felt like an absence of soul.

Why it matters

We think this backlash is a watershed moment for how global brands approach AI in public-facing creative work.

On paper, the move looks brilliantly efficient. Re-rendering a commercial with algorithms costs a fraction of dispatching a full crew, permits, and a fleet of custom-lit trucks into the snow. It proves generative video is commercially ready for primetime TV. But emotionally, it misread the room completely.

Coca-Cola’s holiday brand equity is built entirely on warmth, nostalgia, and authentic human connection. The moment viewers realize that comforting holiday glow was manufactured by a cluster of GPUs, the illusion shatters. Cutting Santa out of his own holiday spot only deepened the sense that the brand prioritized speed and cost over care.

For creators and marketers, the takeaway is clear: efficiency cannot come at the expense of what made people care in the first place. AI can speed up your production pipeline, but if your product relies on human sentiment, broadcasting that machines built it might end up costing far more than you saved.