Coke’s 2025 Christmas ad is AI again, but has “better craftmanship” this year

Coca-Cola has revealed its holiday advert for 2025, and it is all AI-generated again. Yet, they claim the craftsmanship is ‘much better’ than their last attempt. 

Getting close to the holiday season means one thing for a lot of people: the return of the Coca-Cola truck and its annual advertisement. The Christmas truck, flanked by the ‘Holidays are coming’ song is a staple whenever the darker nights and colder weather start to take over. 

However, in 2024, the beverage giant made the move to create its annual advertisement with artificial intelligence. The first attempt didn’t go down too well with fans, with many claiming it didn’t hit the same as years gone by. 

Well, Coca-Cola aren’t moving away from AI anytime soon. They have embraced once again for their 2025 commercial, claiming this year’s attempt is crafted much better than their first go at it. 

Coke’s Christmas 2025 advert is AI, again

“Last year people criticized the craftsmanship. But this year the craftsmanship is ten times better,” Pratik Thakar, global VP and head of generative AI at Coca-Cola, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“There will be people who criticize — we cannot keep everyone 100 percent happy, but if the majority of consumers see it in a positive way, it’s worth going forward. We understand that concern. But we need to keep moving forward and pushing the envelope.”

The commercial, which has plenty of references to the original ‘Holidays are coming’ advert from the mid-90s, has already had a fair bit of backlash on social media. 

“This makes me want to buy a Pepsi,” one posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Why use AI for this, when you could easily have paid people to make it?” another commented.

“Regurgitated slop that looks so off, so plastic and just terrible. Why do this? Why not hire fellow industry folk who desperately need work to do something way better than this? It’s so depressing…,” another added. 

“I am addicted to your product and I’m going to go drink a Pepsi, that’s how bad this is,” another chimed in.