Leading up to Christmas, Coca Cola and McDonald’s, two of America’s biggest and most iconic brands, put out AI-generated commercials. When I first saw the Coca Cola one, I had to do a “double take,” but it soon became clear that those semi-trucks and that happy golden retriever had an unreal gloss added on. The McDonald’s ad got so much pushback that the fast-food giant opted to pull it from YouTube.
Enter Porsche, the car company, and it’s contrasting advertisement showing the time-tested beauties of hand-drawn and CGI animation.
It’s a beautiful ad, replete with vivid colors and crisp images, and while obviously an animation, something about it doesn’t scream “fake” like the mountains of AI-generated slop that has accumulated over the last couple of years. And people are getting tired of slop. Frank Landymore writes at Futurism,
Though Porsche made no specific mention of AI, people reading between the lines quickly took that to mean that the automaker was quietly bragging about not using the tech, and hailed it as a victory. This perception of it being AI-free drove it to being remarkably viral, and made it an unexpected hit.
“Can’t wait for more of this anti-AI rebound,” one user wrote.
“Amtrak has been hiring artists to create original animations as well,” observed Nathan Allebach, a creative director. “As slop races us to the bottom, real art signals craft, prestige, and trust.”
The response goes to show how divisive AI is, especially in the arts. And ads, the most commercial art form of all, have both been a useful gauge of how companies have been willing to experiment with the tech and of the public reaction to it, which has been largely pretty negative.
The Porsche ad suggests that in 2026, companies might better signal their resources and good standing by spending more money on marketing campaigns that honor human creativity and agency. Given how poorly people reacted to the McDonald’s ad and how relieved many folks were at the sight of a carefully crafted car commercial, corporations might, might, start to take a hint. AI might save you money, but it doesn’t save your company’s public reputation.
This is the same principle that applies to the arts and culture world. When the general public tires of AI-generated “content,” it will hunger for more authentic cultural artifacts. In the best-case scenario, we might witness a resurgence of art museum visits, or an uptick in Barnes and Noble’s sales records. AI’s genuine uses might be better realized, and its pointless excesses will be seen as massive wastes of time and attention.
So, good for Porsche for animating a thing of real beauty.
2025 was AI’s big year. Will 2026 follow suit, or will the scales start to balance?
