The Coca-Cola Company is using artificial intelligence tools to create advertising content and test how audiences respond to AI-generated marketing [1, 2].

This shift represents a broader move within the consumer packaged goods industry to reduce production costs and increase the speed of storytelling. As brands integrate these tools, they must balance operational efficiency against growing consumer skepticism regarding the authenticity of AI content.

Digital systems and AI are becoming central to how the company creates marketing and product development, a Coca-Cola marketing executive said [3]. The company has applied these tools to various campaigns, including its holiday advertisements [1]. This approach allows the company to produce high-quality content more affordably and at a larger scale [4].

Coca-Cola's strategy is part of a wider trend where AI-generated content is becoming common in high-profile slots. Business Insider staff noted that Coca-Cola's holiday ad and Svedka's Super Bowl commercial share more in common than promoting a beverage, as both were generated with the help of AI [1]. This transition is significant given the company's scale, with annual advertising spend reaching $4 billion [5].

However, the adoption of AI in marketing is not without friction. While some reports suggest AI advertising is booming and effective, other research indicates a different consumer sentiment. "Audiences are skeptical of AI," Melissa Wheeler said in a report for Forbes [2].

These tensions were recently explored in a Forbes podcast, specifically in Season 1, Episode 3, which examined the Coca-Cola AI test case [4]. The company continues to use these tests to gauge the specific threshold at which AI-generated imagery may trigger a consumer backlash [2].

“Digital systems and AI are becoming central to how the company creates marketing and product development.”

Coca-Cola's experimentation serves as a bellwether for the CPG industry's transition toward automated creativity. By testing audience trust alongside deployment, the company is attempting to quantify the 'uncanny valley' of AI marketing—determining whether the cost savings of AI production are offset by a potential loss in brand authenticity and consumer trust.