Podcast Summary: "AI Has Come For Advertising"

Podcast: The Journal.
Hosts: Jessica Mendoza (The Wall Street Journal) & Katie Dayton
Air Date: December 12, 2025

Overview

This episode explores the sweeping impact of artificial intelligence on the advertising industry, using Coca-Cola's iconic holiday ads as a case study. Hosts Jessica Mendoza and WSJ ad industry reporter Katie Dayton discuss the creative, economic, and cultural shifts provoked by AI-generated ads, the backlash and defenses within the industry, as well as broader changes to how advertisements are conceived and produced. The episode captures the tension between technological advancement and creative tradition at a time of rapid change for advertising.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Advertising's Traditional Roots and Sudden Disruption

• The episode begins by referencing Mad Men (00:06–00:39), highlighting how the ad business has long relied on creative teams much like TV’s Don Draper.
  • Quote: "The way an ad has been made for the last 50, 60 years... hasn't really changed that much." – Katie Dayton (00:39)
• Transition to how this tradition is now being upended by AI, especially by industry leaders like Coca-Cola (01:12–01:38).

2. Coca-Cola's AI-Generated Holiday Ads

• Analysis of Coke's 2024 and 2025 "Holidays Are Coming" ads, which were entirely produced using generative AI (03:16–07:19).
  • The first AI ad was met with negative reactions due to "uncanny valley" effects and criticisms of being "soulless" and "slop" (05:21–05:59).
    • Quote: "To put out slop like this just ruins the Christmas spirit... this just feels absolutely soulless." – Online Reaction (05:47)
    • Quote: "Coca Cola is red because it's made from the blood of out of work artists." – Animator Alex Hirsch, as paraphrased by Katie Dayton (06:16)
  • Despite the backlash, in 2025 Coke doubled down with another AI ad, this time featuring animals instead of people to minimize uncanny effects, but still revealed classic AI errors (e.g., wheels mysteriously changing on trucks) (07:19–08:06).
• Business rationale behind the shift:
  • AI meant lower costs, faster turnarounds—ads now produced in a month instead of a year, with 100 humans supporting 5 AI specialists generating 70,000 video clips (08:39).
    • Quote: "They would have had to start months and months and months before they did with AI." – Katie Dayton on Coke's CMO remarks (08:06)

3. Industry Response and AI’s Proliferation

• The trend is rapidly expanding beyond Coke—nearly a third of online video ads have an AI touch (11:35).
  • Quote: "There is a very high chance that you will have seen an AI ad already. Absolutely. There's like no doubt about it." – Katie Dayton (09:33)
• At the 2025 Cannes Lions advertising festival, AI was the dominant topic, marking a sharp change in sentiment from just two years earlier (10:44–11:35).

4. Notable AI-Driven Ad Campaigns and Backlash

• Examples of recent AI-heavy commercials:
  • Google’s animated turkey Thanksgiving ad—AI-generated but indistinguishable to most viewers (12:13–12:29).
  • McDonald's Netherlands’ AI holiday mishap ad—quickly pulled after online backlash (12:33).
  • Valentino’s AI ad with transforming handbags—deliberately "surreal" (12:33).
• Industry in flux: recent $9 billion merger between Omnicom and IPG, with 4,000 layoffs, signals broader challenges—even if not wholly AI-driven (13:32–13:49).

5. What’s At Stake: The Creative Future of Advertising

• AI shifts the disruption from media distribution to the core creation of ads—a role where agencies have long claimed irreplaceable expertise (13:57–14:32).
  • Quote: "With AI the panic is how you're actually creating the ads. ...Only we can do that. And now with AI that's kind of really not the case." – Katie Dayton (13:57)
• Pushback from companies emphasizing authenticity, such as Aerie’s pledge for “no AI-generated bodies or people” (15:00).
• Nonetheless, consumer testing suggests AI ads perform as well as traditional ones; Coke’s 2025 spot hit the top rating among viewers (15:28–15:48).
  • Quote: "If they don't care, then what is to stop a brand using this all the time?... all roads are pointing to them using AI more." – Katie Dayton (15:48)

6. Do "Mad Men" Jobs Survive?

• For now, AI works best when fed old ideas; creative direction and cultural insight remain human strengths (16:23–17:05).
  • Quote: "You still need the big idea...if you're going to remain fresh, you still need somebody to be in touch with culture and come up with a fantastic idea..." – Katie Dayton (16:29)
  • Quote: "And that's not yet something a computer can necessarily come up with." – Jessica Mendoza (17:05)
  • "Not yet." – Katie Dayton (17:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The specter of AI infiltrate our favorite ads... we're seeing brands really embrace this technology..." – Katie Dayton (01:38)
• "Coca Cola is red because it's made from the blood of out of work artists." – Referenced by Katie Dayton (06:16)
• "They would have had to start months and months before... with AI, they could do it in a month." – Katie Dayton on industry efficiency (08:06, 08:39)
• "The wheels on the Coca Cola trucks—they change in number and placement throughout the commercial." – Jessica Mendoza (07:19)
• "Up until now, any kind of disruption we've had in the industry has tended to be around the media side... with AI the panic is how you're actually creating the ads." – Katie Dayton (13:57)
• "The Coke ad scored... a 5.9 star rating, which is the maximum possible score an ad can get through the model..." – Katie Dayton (15:28)
• "You still need the big idea...if you're going to remain fresh, you still need somebody to be in touch with culture..." – Katie Dayton (16:29)
• "Not yet." – Katie Dayton, on whether AI can provide groundbreaking creative inspiration (17:09)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:06–00:39: Mad Men analogy and tradition of ad creation
• 01:38–02:01: The "AI revolution" arrives in mainstream advertising
• 03:16–07:19: Examination of Coca-Cola’s AI holiday ads and public backlash
• 08:06–09:10: Business rationale: speed, cost, scale, and new production workflow
• 10:10–11:35: The Cannes Lions festival, industry attitudes toward AI
• 11:35–12:07: AI's prevalence in digital video advertising
• 12:13–13:32: Notable recent AI ads—Google, McDonald's, Valentino
• 13:32–14:32: Industry consolidation and what AI changes
• 14:42–15:28: Brand resistance, authenticity pledges
• 15:28–16:23: Effectiveness of AI ads, market reasons for adoption
• 16:23–17:09: Future of creative jobs and the role of human inspiration

Conclusion

The episode concludes with the consensus that while AI is revolutionizing how ads are made—and leading to both cost savings and public debate—the need for human-driven creative ideas persists, even as technology progresses. Brands face a balancing act: leveraging AI’s efficiencies without losing the human touch that gives ads cultural resonance. For now, advertising’s “Mad Men” may be safe, but the landscape is shifting quickly.