Brands Rerun the Same AI Ad Mistake

Coca-Cola shares the problem with three more brands. Skechers, Activision, Netflix and the director Eli Roth have all run into the same wall this year and last. Each used AI to make an ad, a game asset or a film sequence. Audiences answered with the same complaint, every time. The question this pattern raises is simple: why do brands keep paying this price, and who is right about whether it is worth paying?

Same Brand, Same Complaint, Worse Reviews

Coca-Cola first tried an AI "Holidays Are Coming" remake in 2024. Critics called the craftsmanship sloppy.

Phil Gaughran watched that attempt as global business strategy officer at Dentsu Creative. "It a little bit missed the mark because it was kind of giving over the tools of creativity to the machine," Gaughran told Marketplace in December 2024². He added a line that still reads true a year later: "As great as AI is, it can be a little bit formulaic"².

Some ad executives in that story drew a softer line. Scott Everett, executive creative director at the agency PMG, told Marketplace his teams use AI to test ideas before a shoot. "It works wonders in helping us to rapidly pressure-test ideas and visualize ideas," Everett said². His team still builds the finished ad with people. Coca-Cola built the finished ad with AI alone, both years.

Coca-Cola answered the 2024 criticism by using more AI and fewer people. Its 2025 team cut head count and raised output. Five specialists replaced a full production crew. They made tens of thousands of clips instead of one finished cut built by hand¹. Backlash grew anyway. Coca-Cola spent a century selling Christmas nostalgia. Both AI ads drew the same complaint: generic work, built by a process rather than a person.

The Tell Shows Up in the Hands and the Credits

Three more brands ran into the same problem from three different directions.

Skechers placed a full-page ad in Vogue's December 2024 issue. The TikTok creator Laura Palmer flagged it within seconds of watching. Faces in the background looked unfinished. A dress seemed to dissolve at the hem. The models wore heels, and the Skechers sneakers the page was meant to sell sat pasted to the side instead. "I wish people who use AI for art understand that now I hate this. You actually didn't save any money because now I hate you, now I don't ever want to buy a Skechers shoe again," Palmer said³. Skechers left requests for comment from Fortune unanswered³.

Activision ran into its own version of the problem inside Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Players spotted a zombified Santa Claus loading-screen image with six fingers on one hand, a known tell of AI-generated art, Dexerto reported⁴. Activision's own Steam page later confirmed the studio uses "generative AI tools to help develop some in-game assets"⁴. The dispute widened from there. Voice actors for the Zombies mode left during a SAG-AFTRA dispute over AI contract protections. Zeke Alton, who had voiced the character William Peck, told Game Developer he hoped to return under better terms. "I sincerely hope to collaborate in the future once all performers are protected against generative AI abuse," Alton said⁵.

Eli Roth ran into the problem two days before his horror film "Ice Cream Man" reached theaters. Roth first said he hand-drew the film's animated cartoon sequence himself. Critics noticed the visual effects company Dark Half carried a credit in early screenings. Roth then changed his account. "I misspoke. AI was used in a very small portion of a few scenes in the film," Roth told reporters on Aug. 5, 2026⁶. He framed the choice as additive rather than evasive: "It was an opportunity where technology and creativity came together to help bring my vision for the film to life"⁶. Horror fans who prize practical effects called the walk-back the real problem, ahead of the AI itself.

The Case for Moving Fast

Netflix offers the clearest version of the cost-and-speed argument.

The streamer used generative AI for a single visual-effects sequence in its Argentine series "The Eternaut," a building collapsing across Buenos Aires. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended the choice on a July 2025 earnings call. "Using AI-powered tools, they were able to achieve an amazing result with remarkable speed and, in fact, that VFX sequence was completed ten times faster than it could have been completed with traditional VFX tools and workflows," Sarandos said⁷. He tied the number to a budget constraint most shows share: "It used to be that only big-budget projects would have access to advanced visual effects like de-aging"⁷.

Sarandos frames AI as access more than replacement. A show with "The Eternaut"'s budget could afford that shot only through AI, he argued. The tool closed the gap between what the story needed and what the production could pay for. Fans still argued online. They said the move set a precedent for cutting VFX jobs elsewhere, ahead of expanding small shows' budgets⁷.

The Case for Slowing Down

Consumer data backs Gaughran's instinct more than Thakar's.

Harris Poll research, conducted with the 4As and Infillion, measured how consumers react to a suspected AI-made ad. 73% said it lowered their trust in the ad⁹. 63% said it made them less likely to buy from the brand⁹. The same research found that 78% of consumers think AI makes ads feel less authentic. That share calls brands "cringey" when they lean on AI too hard⁹.

Ad executives read their own audience wrong, and by a growing margin. The trade group IAB found that 82% of ad executives in 2026 believed Gen Z and Millennial consumers felt positive about AI-generated ads. Only 45% of those consumers actually did. The gap between what executives assume and what consumers report widened from 32 points in 2024 to 37 points in 2026¹⁰.

One brand already reversed course under this pressure. Lego posted AI-generated Ninjago character images on its website in March 2024, including one wearing an unlicensed Naruto headband. The company apologized within days and wrote a standing rule against the practice. "We fundamentally believe in the wonder and power of human creativity and will continue to encourage and celebrate the talented artists who help bring our brand and characters to life," Lego said in its statement⁸. The company still explores AI behind the scenes, in testing and workflow, while it keeps customer-facing content human-made⁸.

Lego's reversal is the strongest evidence for Gaughran's side of the argument. A company with just as much pressure to cut costs looked at the backlash and chose the artists instead.

By the numbers

• 70,000: video clips Coca-Cola's five-person AI team produced in 30 days for its 2025 holiday ad¹.
• 73%: of consumers say a suspected AI-made ad lowers their trust in it, per Harris Poll research with the 4As and Infillion⁹.
• 63%: say the same ad makes them less likely to buy from the brand, the same research found⁹.
• 45%: of Gen Z and Millennial consumers feel positive about AI-generated ads, versus 82% of ad executives who believe they do¹⁰.
• 37 points: the gap between those two figures in 2026, up from 32 points in 2024¹⁰.
• Two days: how far ahead of its premiere Eli Roth admitted AI touched a few scenes of "Ice Cream Man"⁶.
• 10 times: how much faster Netflix's AI-made building collapse scene came together than standard visual effects work, Ted Sarandos said⁷.
• Days: how long Lego took in March 2024 to apologize for its AI-made Ninjago images and write a rule against them⁸.

What to watch

Watch whether Activision adds AI disclosure terms to its next performer contracts. That is the fix Zeke Alton said he wants. Coca-Cola's next holiday spot deserves a look too, for a credited human director, the detail missing from both AI versions so far. A Skechers campaign that keeps its models in the right shoes would show the lesson landed. One more brand following Lego's reversal would show the backlash changed a real budget meeting.

Sources

1. David Mouriquand, "'Real magic': Coca-Cola's AI-generated Christmas ad sparks widespread backlash, again," Euronews, Nov. 5, 2025, https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/11/05/real-magic-coca-colas-ai-generated-christmas-ad-sparks-widespread-backlash-again
2. Kristin Schwab, "Does Coca-Cola's new AI ad signal a new era for advertising?" Marketplace, Dec. 10, 2024, https://www.marketplace.org/story/2024/12/10/ai-ad-coca-cola-advertisment-generative-advertising
3. Chloe Berger, "Skechers draw backlash for full-page ad in Vogue that reeks of AI," Fortune, Dec. 13, 2024, https://www.yahoo.com/news/skechers-draw-backlash-full-page-063600662.html
4. Ethan Dean, "Black Ops 6 slammed for alleged use of AI art as event reward," Dexerto, Dec. 6, 2024, https://www.dexerto.com/call-of-duty/black-ops-6-slammed-for-alleged-use-of-ai-art-as-event-reward-3000128/
5. Bryant Francis, "Black Ops 6 Zombies characters recast after original actors withdrew during strike," Game Developer, Dec. 18, 2024, https://www.gamedeveloper.com/audio/black-ops-6-zombies-characters-recast-after-original-actors-withdrew-during-strike
6. Corbin Bolies, "Eli Roth Admits 'Ice Cream Man' Features AI-Assisted Shots After Suggesting Otherwise: 'I Misspoke'," Variety, Aug. 5, 2026, https://au.variety.com/2026/film/news/eli-roth-ice-cream-man-ai-generated-shots-39152/
7. Frank Landymore, "Netflix Says It Used Video-Generating AI for Special Effects in a New Show," Futurism, Jul. 27, 2025, https://futurism.com/netflix-video-generating-ai-tv
8. Daniel Croft, "LEGO slammed for AI image generation for official product," Cyber Daily, Mar. 19, 2024, https://www.cyberdaily.au/digital-transformation/10340-lego-slammed-for-ai-image-generation-for-official-product
9. Kelsey Sutton, "Consumers are sick and tired of hearing about AI all the time," Marketing Brew, Jun. 24, 2026, https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/harris-poll-ai-fatigue-less-trust-ai-generated-ads-cannes-lions
10. Debra Aho Williamson, "The AI Ad Gap Widens," IAB, Jan. 15, 2026, https://www.iab.com/insights/the-ai-gap-widens/