Companies used to pride themselves on the ‘artistry’ of their seasonal adverts. Whatever you think of that as a statement, the increasing abandonment of that pride – and the embracing of the slop aesthetic by some of the world’s largest corporations this Christmas – is a worrying trend.
The ‘golden quarter’ (the months leading up to and including Christmas) are supposedly the most crucial in the retail calendar. It gives brands one last chance to juice shoppers for all they can, and give their shareholders a fat end-of-year bonus. As a result, the depressing tradition of the December advert wars has become a fixture of the festive calendar. Companies staging a mawkish contest to see who can create the best 30-second tear-jerker, set to a baleful acoustic cover of a song you might previously enjoyed, to prompt cash-strapped consumers to spend more on grotesque novelty food or worker-rights-free delivery services right until December 25th – while fawning press coverage inevitably declares that one company (usually John Lewis) has won Christmas with their effort.
With consumer spending power still dwindling after years of suppressed wage growth, and a nightmarish period of inflation on steroids, many retailers have been struggling of late. You would think, then, that companies would be throwing everything they had at their annual short films in 2025 – but for a select group of global monopolies, the Christmas advert wars have offered the opportunity for an arguably even more cynical, sinister ritual: the AI dab.
Coca-Cola took the first leap into AI advertising last Christmas, and in spite of the backlash it received then, it has doubled down this time round. Leaning in hard with a bland assortment of knock-off Pixar animals waiting for a precious delivery of intestinal poison, a truck which can’t decide how many wheels it should have careers around icy roads with reckless abandon; at one stage appearing to be ploughing full-speed into an unsuspecting crowd.
The clip has been ridiculed for its obvious errors, the fact nobody either checked or cared to check about what was displayed before it was released, and its clear disdain for the creatives who worked on Coke’s old commercials – who the $47 billion revenue conglomerate appears to be freezing out to save a quick buck. But really, is any of that shocking? It’s only really a surprise if you completely overlook the historic allegations of human rights abuses – including accusations of using of child labour, and the alleged murder of trade unionists – levelled at the company over the years.
Similarly, McDonald’s wheeled out an advert in the Netherlands, aptly titled ‘The Most Terrible Time of the Year’, deploying AI generated images to illustrate the worst aspects of Christmas. But on top of being utterly tedious in the Half Man Half Biscuit sense (It’s Clichéd to Be Cynical at Christmas), and a gutless lack of weight or conviction to any of the scenarios which would be easily producible with regular filmmaking techniques, the list of ‘Terrible’ things conveniently leaves out uncanny generative slop commercials; not to mention your billionaire boss allegedly skimping on holiday pay, or offering you a carboard bag and a cinema coupon as your Christmas bonus.
And in the UK, an AI-enthusiast masquerading as an artist caused a festive revolt, when their Christmas-themed display above restaurants in Kingston upon Thames was picked apart by passers-by. Small mistakes being spotted in this way would usually be credited to “eagle-eyed” observers – but it’s fair to say in this case they simply needed to be “eyed”, with the supposedly Pieter Bruegel-inspired winter scenes instead suggesting the machine had been ‘trained’ with the works of Hieronymus Bosch and John Carpenter. With the flesh of dogs and humans blending into a hideous furry blur; other tortured faces writhe in agony in the snowy backdrop, while contorted snowmen and Santa Clauses lurk near a dog with the head of a seagull, and an oar made out of dog paws.
The mural was eventually removed by the landowner, but the fact it – like all the other examples – was simply thrown out there in the first place speaks to something more concerning. This isn’t about the ‘excitement’ around what generative AI can do anymore – the results are clear, broadly, it can’t do much. Rather, this is about what is deemed good enough, or more precisely, good enough for the likes of us. ‘Art’, even in its supremely cynical, commercialised form of the advert – a venue where many upcoming filmmakers have cut their teeth, before launching storied careers – is no longer something those in positions of power and wealth feel they need to offer those of lower social castes. We aren’t owed a reason to have to invest in their products any more, because by virtue of the great money trick, we have little choice but to do so.
The fact this comes at a time when AI is being increasingly deployed by fraudsters also feeds into this. Recent research from Santander in the UK suggests that 56% of people in Britain fear they or a family member could fall victim to an AI scam, with generative fake social media adverts ramping up over Christmas. The most susceptible demographic seems to be younger shoppers, with 14% of Gen Z respondents saying that they had lost money as a result of this type of fake ads. Some of the world’s largest conglomerates are now feeding into this, by adopting the trashy aesthetic of AI slop for their own – lending it an added legitimacy, and making it harder for people to determine what is genuine, and what is not.
At the same time, in an age of shamelessness, where right-wing politicians can say and do whatever they like, and a lack of repentance if anything seems to make them more electable, companies whose dominance is essentially enshrined by the same social and economic forces are taking the same cue. You don’t need to care anymore, you don’t even need to pretend. You can throw your disdain for people back in their faces, and they’ll probably end up buying more of what you’re selling. If that doesn’t work, maybe it wasn’t real anyway. Maybe it was fraudsters. In an age where everything has the same bland, plagiarised look to it, who can say?
All this speaks to the fact that the likes of Coca-Cola and McDonald’s don’t care about their customers, and they never have. If anything, they have resented having to try and appeal to you for the last century of consumerism. And now, as the political and corporate powers that be feel safe enough to let their mask slip, AI’s proponents may have found the one marketable use of generative content: the previously unseemly dabbing of billionaires over those they extract their wealth and power from.
“No, we don’t owe the serfs anything anymore. We’re going back to the Middle Ages, where all the actual art, with human effort, and thoughts and meaning behind it, is just for us. We own all the troughs in town, after all – so even if the piggies below feel this slop isn’t really ‘good enough’, they have nowhere else to go.
Merry Slopmas.“