Toys R Us launched its first AI-generated brand video, using OpenAI's Sora to tell the origin story of its mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe.
Toys R Us declared bankruptcy in 2018 and closed all of its stores in the U.S. and worldwide, but was subsequently acquired by WHP Global and the brand has re-appeared in Macy's department stores.
The company released an AI promotional film at the Cannes Lions festival this week, but while many internet users disliked the project, others were impressed by the technology.
Toys R Us partnered with creative agency Native Foreign to produce the film, although the film was not entirely AI-generated; modified visual effects were used to complete the ad and an original music score was added in post-production.
Toys”R”Us releases first brand commercial generated with OpenAI SORA
Here we see a commercial use case for generative AI. pic.twitter.com/rfbHC3NQRD
— Allen T. (@Mr_AllenT) June 25, 2024
The video is 66 seconds long, but only 28 seconds were uploaded to YouTube. The full video is available on the Toys “R” Us website.
A sign of change in the industry?
While many have slammed the video as “creepy” and “trashy,” it's a relatively solid piece of AI video, and as Kenny Le at Threads points out, “A few years ago, this commercial would have cost six figures and taken months to produce. Today, it would probably take a few hours and a few hundred dollars.”
Some believe AI video has the potential to disrupt the digital entertainment market. Nick Krebeloff, chief creative officer at Native Foreign, said: CNN He said his agency was an early tester for Sora and pitched the idea for AI videos to Toys “R” Us' creative studio.
“As you can see, it was all done in text, but some shots were completed quicker than others, and some shots required more iterations,” Kreberov says.
“It has to be a perfect dance: the blocking, the look of the character, the clothes, the emotions, the background. Sometimes we make something that's almost perfect, and sometimes it's just not quite right.”
Like a strange dream, every time we meet, you become a different person pic.twitter.com/5Vc85ElqO1
— Syndrome (@syndrowm) June 25, 2024
However, X users point out that the main characters look slightly different in each shot, and character consistency will be a big challenge for AI video generators going forward.
