You’ve seen the trucks. For decades, the sight of those glowing red Big Rigs winding through a snowy mountain pass meant one thing: Christmas is officially here. It’s a tradition as baked-in as leaving cookies for Santa or arguing over who gets the last piece of pie. But the recent new ad Coca Cola released for the 2024 holiday season didn't just bring the usual warm fuzzies. It brought a massive, internet-wide debate about the soul of creativity.
The ad, titled "Holidays Are Coming," is a reimagining of the classic 1995 masterpiece. But there’s a catch. Every single frame of it was generated using Artificial Intelligence.
The Tech Behind the Red Truck
Coca-Cola didn't just dabble in a few filters here. They went all in. Working with three different AI studios—Secret Level, Silverside AI, and Wild Card—the brand utilized several generative models, including Leonardo, Luma, and Runway. It’s a huge shift. We aren't talking about a small startup trying to save a buck. This is one of the world's most iconic brands using high-end tech to replicate its most famous piece of intellectual property.
Pratik Thakar, Coca-Cola’s VP and Global Head of Generative AI, basically said the goal was to blend heritage with the "future." But for a lot of people watching, the future felt a little... cold?
It's weird. You watch the ad and everything looks mostly right. The lights are bright. The snow is crisp. The Coca-Cola trucks have that familiar sheen. But if you look closer—and boy, did the internet look closer—things start to feel a bit "Uncanny Valley." There’s a shot of a squirrel that looks like it’s vibrating. The wheels of the trucks don’t always seem to touch the ground in a way that respects the laws of physics.
Why This New Ad Coca-Cola Released Actually Matters
This isn’t just about a commercial. It’s a bellwether for the entire advertising industry.
When a brand like Coke chooses AI over a fleet of real trucks, dozens of location scouts, hundreds of extras, and a massive film crew, the ripples are felt everywhere. From a business perspective, the math is undeniable. Real shoots are expensive. They take months of planning. You have to pray it actually snows, or spend a fortune on fake suds. With AI, you can pivot in an afternoon.
But there's a cost that doesn't show up on a balance sheet.
The Human Element Problem
Critics, including some pretty vocal filmmakers and animators on X and LinkedIn, have called the move "soul-crushing." The argument is simple: the original 1995 ad worked because it was a feat of human engineering. Real people drove those trucks. Real light hit that red paint. When you remove the human struggle of creation, does the magic evaporate?
Honestly, it depends on who you ask. Younger audiences, particularly Gen Z, are often more forgiving of tech integration if the "vibe" is right. But for those who grew up with the tactile, cinematic quality of the 90s ads, this feels like a shortcut.
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Speed vs. Substance
Coca-Cola isn't stupid. They know that in 2026, the speed of culture is lightning-fast. They can now generate localized versions of this new ad Coca Cola for hundreds of different markets in a fraction of the time. Imagine a version where the truck drives past a specific landmark in your hometown. AI makes that hyper-localization possible.
A History of Change (That We All Forgot)
People love to be outraged. It’s the internet's favorite pastime. But if we look back, Coca-Cola has always been at the forefront of tech shifts that people originally hated.
- The Polar Bears: When the first computer-animated polar bears showed up in 1993, people thought they were weird. Now? They’re icons.
- Digital Color Grading: When ads stopped being shot on film and moved to digital, purists screamed that the "warmth" was gone.
- Social Media: Remember when brands started talking like people on Twitter? We all cringed. Now we expect it.
The pushback against this AI ad is largely a pushback against the loss of the "human hand." We like to know that someone labored over the thing we're consuming.
The Logistics of the AI Workflow
If you think someone just typed "Santa truck in snow" into a prompt and hit enter, you’re mistaken. Silverside AI and the other partners spent weeks refining the outputs.
- Base Generation: Using tools like Runway Gen-3 Alpha to get the physics of the truck movements.
- Consistency Checks: Ensuring the Coca-Cola logo didn't morph into a red blob or some weird alien script (a common AI fail).
- Human Overlays: Real editors still had to cut the footage, time it to the music, and color-grade it to match the brand’s specific "Coke Red."
It's a hybrid model. But even a hybrid model feels like a threat to the traditional production house. If Coke can do this, why would a mid-sized car brand ever hire a film crew again?
What This Means for You
If you’re a creator, marketer, or just someone who likes a good Christmas ad, the takeaway is clear: the genie is out of the bottle. We are moving into an era of "Synthetic Media" where the line between captured reality and generated reality is basically non-existent.
The new ad Coca Cola is a test case. If sales stay high and the brand's "sentiment score" doesn't tank, expect every major Super Bowl ad to follow suit. Efficiency is a hell of a drug for a CEO.
However, there is a growing counter-movement. We're seeing a rise in "Lo-Fi" and "Human-Made" labels. Just like people pay a premium for "Hand-Knitted" sweaters instead of factory-made ones, we might soon see brands bragging that their commercials were "Shot on 35mm Film by Real Humans."
Authenticity in the Age of Algorithms
The irony isn't lost on anyone that a brand built on "The Real Thing" is using the most "unreal" technology available.
Coca-Cola’s whole identity is wrapped up in authenticity. Sharing a Coke with a friend. Real moments. Real magic. When the delivery mechanism for that message is an algorithm, it creates a friction point. It's a gamble. Coke is betting that the image of the truck is more important than the reality of the truck.
What People Are Getting Wrong
Most of the hate online assumes this was done only to save money. While that's a huge part of it, it's also about data. AI allows them to test 50 different versions of a scene to see which one makes people's pupils dilate more. It’s scary, but it’s high-level business.
Moving Forward: How to Navigate the AI Ad Wave
We have to get used to it. The "Holidays Are Coming" spot is the first of many. But as a consumer, you have more power than you think. Brands watch engagement like hawks. If you hate the AI look, the best thing you can do isn't just tweet about it—it's to stop engaging with it and reward the brands that are still investing in human-centric storytelling.
Actionable Steps for the Modern Consumer and Creator
- Audit the Visuals: Start looking for the "AI tell." Look at the hands of people in the background, the way light reflects off glass, and the consistency of textures. The more you recognize it, the less it "tricks" your brain.
- Demand Transparency: Support legislation and platform features that require "AI-Generated" labels. Knowing the source of the media you consume is a fundamental right in a digital age.
- For Creators: Don't ignore the tech, but don't let it replace your "eye." Use AI for storyboarding or brainstorming, but remember that the "imperfections" of human-made art are often what make it beautiful.
- Focus on Narrative: At the end of the day, a pretty picture is just a picture. Whether it's made by a computer or a camera, the story is what sticks. If the new ad Coca Cola fails, it won't be because of the pixels—it'll be because the story felt hollow.
The holiday season is about tradition, and traditions are inherently resistant to change. Coca-Cola just poked a very large, very nostalgic bear. Whether that bear decides to hug them back or bite their head off remains to be seen as the data from the 2024-2025 season finally finishes rolling in. One thing is certain: the red truck will keep rolling, even if it's only made of code. ---
Next Steps for Understanding the Shift
To stay ahead of how AI is changing the media you consume, start by exploring the specific tools used in this campaign. Check out the latest showcases from Runway or Luma AI to see the current state of "text-to-video" technology. Comparing these raw outputs to the polished Coca-Cola ad will give you a much clearer picture of where the human editor ends and the machine begins. Additionally, keep an eye on industry trade publications like AdAge or The Drum, which are currently tracking the "Brand Sentiment" scores for this specific campaign to see if the AI move actually hurt Coke's bottom line or if the controversy was just a loud minority in a sea of indifferent consumers.