AI commercials: what the big brand experiments teach, and how to make one yourself

For years, "AI commercial" meant a demo nobody would put on air. That changed when some of the world's biggest advertisers started running spots made largely with generative video. Coca-Cola's AI-generated holiday campaign in 2024, a reworking of its classic "Holidays Are Coming" trucks, was the moment most people noticed — it was watched by millions, praised by some and picked apart by others. Since then, AI-made and AI-themed spots have become a regular talking point around the biggest ad events of the year.

The interesting part for everyone else is not that a global brand can do it. It is that the same kind of tool is now available to a bakery, a dentist or a software start-up with no production budget at all.

What the big-brand AI commercials taught

1. People notice when realism almost works

The loudest criticism of early AI commercials was aimed at photorealism that was nearly right — faces that shifted slightly, hands that looked wrong, physics that felt off. Audiences are very good at spotting the uncanny. The lesson: if you are not going to be perfect at realism, do not attempt it.

2. Stylised beats realistic

Animated and clearly stylised spots draw far less of that criticism, because nobody expects a cartoon to look real. A drawn world is honest about what it is. This is the single biggest reason animation is the natural home for AI commercials — the format hides the tool's weaknesses and plays to its strengths.

3. The idea still does the work

The AI spots that were remembered for the right reasons had a clear, simple idea. The tool changed how the ad was produced, not whether it needed a point. A muddled brief produces a muddled commercial at any budget.

4. Speed changes the strategy

The real advantage brands found was iteration. When a version costs minutes instead of weeks, you can test several openings, several lines and several styles, and keep the one that performs. That advantage is bigger for a small business than for a global one.

How to make your own AI commercial

1. Write one sentence. What should the viewer remember? "The only dentist in town open on Saturdays." Everything in the spot should serve that line.
2. Choose a style that suits the brand. Clean flat vector for software and finance, warm watercolour for family products, 3D toon for apps and consumer brands, rubber hose or claymation to stand out. The full list is in our animation styles guide.
3. Pick the length. 15 seconds for one message, 30 seconds for problem, product and call to action, 60 for a small story.
4. Write the spot as scenes. Style first, then what happens in order, then the sound. Put the voiceover in quotation marks.
5. Generate three versions. Same spot, different openings. Choose the strongest, or test all three.
6. Add the end card yourself. Logo, phone number, web address and any legal lines go on in an editor, where text is always sharp and correct.

Example: a 30-second local TV spot

Bright 3D toon style, soft studio light, cheerful palette. A tooth character with a tiny backpack wakes up on Saturday morning, looks at a calendar and panics — every door in town has a "closed" sign. Then a friendly dental clinic's door swings open with a little sparkle, and the tooth runs inside, relieved. Narrator, warm and upbeat: "Toothache on a Saturday? We're open." Playful music, a cartoon door chime, a happy sigh at the end.

Running an AI commercial on TV

Broadcast has rules that social media does not. Export at 1080p, then have an editor match the station's frame rate (29.97 in North America, 25 in most of Europe) and loudness standard (around −24 LKFS in the US, −23 LUFS in Europe). Leave time for the broadcaster's ad clearance, make sure every claim is true, and check whether the platform or region expects AI-generated content to be labelled. A full checklist is on the AI commercial generator page.

Where AI commercials still fall short

• Real people and real products. If the ad needs a recognisable spokesperson or the exact product on a real table, shoot it.
• Text in the picture. Rendered lettering is unreliable in every current model; add it afterwards.
• Frame-accurate timing against an existing jingle or voice track is hard to specify; plan to fit the audio to the picture in an edit.

Frequently asked questions

Are AI commercials allowed on television? Yes. Broadcasters judge ads on their content and technical quality, not on how they were made. Your spot still has to pass the station's clearance and meet its delivery spec.

Do I own an AI commercial I generate? The videos you generate with our cartoon video creator are yours to use commercially, including for broadcast. How copyright applies to AI-generated material still varies by country.

How much does an AI commercial cost to make? A 30-second animated spot uses a small part of a monthly plan's credits, with the price shown before you generate. Compare that with the cost of a single day of a traditional shoot.

Ready to make one? Start in the cartoon video creator, or read cartoon video ads for feed-first advertising.