Coca-Cola’s holiday ad and Svedka’s Super Bowl commercial have more in common than just beverage promotions: They were both generated with the help of AI.
The technology is becoming popular in consumer goods companies, where marketing leaders are adding AI to their processes, both creatively and strategically.
As a result, assets and campaigns are being realized faster than without AI.
Before AI, it could take Mondelēz International up to 10 weeks from concept to production to create a 6-8 second social media video for its Chips Ahoy! Jennifer Mennes, Vice President and Global Head of Digital Marketing and Strategy at Mondelēz International, said of the character Chip.
Marketing teams can now instruct AI to create videos in less than five minutes. The entire process can take several days after various checks by human members of the team.
Menes said the biggest opportunity doesn’t necessarily lie in a “big splashy campaign” like a Super Bowl berth. Instead, AI is helping CPG manufacturers quickly create large amounts of text, headlines, social content, and lifestyle images. As companies pump out more content, they may run the risk of putting out AI slop and alienating consumers with AI-generated content. But so far, the efficiency gains have proven valuable, as companies and agencies can save weeks of time, especially on high-volume tasks and strategies.
“It doesn’t seem that exciting,” Mennes said. “But it’s actually having an impact.”
Test and learn with AI
AI can play a role in parts of the marketing process that are invisible to consumers, such as idea generation. Johnny Rohrbach, founder of global partnerships and operations at Silverside AI, said marketing teams and their partners can “come up with different directions until the cows come home.” His AI Lab is working on holiday campaigns with several consumer goods companies, including Coca-Cola.
Focus group testing is another use case for AI. Sonia Evans, vice president of business intelligence and strategy at Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, said the agency is partnering with AI company Waldo.fyi to create a digital twin of a brand’s target consumers using detailed demographics and purchase history. The team then presents their creative ideas to this synthetic audience.
“We can talk to them the same way we talk to consumers,” Evans said. Based on the feedback, the agency refines the ideas before pitching them to actual consumers. Feedback from digital and virtual consumers is “surprisingly similar,” she says.
Blue Chip, which has worked on campaigns for Bob’s Red Mill, Emerald Nuts, and Panera Bread, is also using AI to create so-called boardmatics. This is essentially an animated version of the spot, complete with narration, script, and motion, but without the time, cost, and hiring required to film it.
Evans said the station can test multiple animated spots with consumers to gauge reaction “before we spend a single dollar on production.” The agency will then use the feedback to decide which version goes into full production.
Avoid AI slop traps
Rohrbach said consumers now want more content, creating a cycle where brands need to appear more often in their feeds to stay at the top. Marketing budgets don’t always scale with consumer trends. He added that AI can help fill the gap and allow marketing teams to do more with their allocated funds.
However, there is a fine line when it comes to volume.
“If a spot feels like garbage and just pumps out content because it can, it’s not going to attract consumers,” Mennes said, adding that humans are always involved at Mondelez. CPG companies view AI as additive, not as a replacement for workflows, but as something that enhances existing connections with consumers.
“Nothing goes to market without strict approval,” Menes said.
Especially for food brands, Evans says images need to look real and authentic. “People are quick to speak up when something looks like AI.”
Consumers are accusing brands of AI missteps, with many criticizing AI-generated Super Bowl ads as uninspired or of low quality. Rohrbach, whose AI Lab partnered with Svedka’s parent company Sazerac to produce the AI Super Bowl spot, said brands need to avoid putting out content that is irrelevant, poorly written and “a little tone-deaf.” His lab’s Coca-Cola holiday ad was one of the ones that drew criticism, but he said internal and external tests performed “very well.”
Despite largely negative social media sentiment, the company’s strong performance may be partly due to the company’s attention to its use of AI. In fact, this spot was the most talked about Christmas ad of 2025.
“I’m very proud of that ad,” Rohrbach said. He added that Coca-Cola is at the “cutting edge” of AI experimentation and that consumer goods companies across the board are embracing the technology because of high demand for content.
In fact, a February BCG survey found that 7 in 10 CPG marketing leaders expect GenAI to help them work faster. However, only 13% said this technology is fully integrated into their marketing workflows. The report said the numbers show a maturity gap. Evans said that while big brands may have big budgets for AI experimentation, mid-sized companies are grappling with tariffs and inflationary pressures and are more focused on business goals than AI experimentation.
Menes said major consumer goods companies are “on track to make progress” and are “rapidly embracing this space.” Additionally, she noticed a change in her CPG peers. For the first time in her career, they are sharing ideas, comparing challenges related to hallucinations, and cross-validating solutions.
“It’s really refreshing,” Mennes said. “If we can help each other with that, it will only accelerate our ability to transform our organizations.”
