Dive Overview:
- According to a press release, Toys R Us created the first branded film using OpenAI's new text-to-video conversion tool, Sora, which is currently only available to alpha testers and can generate videos up to one minute long based on text prompts.
- Toys R Us Studios, the toy retailer's entertainment production division, has partnered with creative agency Native Foreign to produce the film that tells the story of how founder Charles Lazarus created the brand and its mascot, Jeffrey the Giraffe.
- Sora enabled the content to be produced in just a few weeks, in time for its premiere at Cannes Lions, demonstrating how generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools can help marketers save time and money.
Dive Insights:
As Toys R Us prepares for a major relaunch, it is embracing a generative AI tool that has garnered attention in the marketing and media industries. OpenAI kicked off the current AI boom with the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 and is poised to take another leap with the upcoming release of its Sora tool.
Toys”R”Us Studios tapped Native Foreign with Sora alpha access and Chief Creative Officer Nick Kreberoff to create a one-minute photorealistic video about the retailer's origins, depicting how Charles Lazarus, the son of a bike store owner, came up with Toys”R”Us and its iconic mascot. Kim Miller Orko, president of Toys”R”Us Studios, served as executive producer, and Kreberoff served as director of the project.
The full video, available on the brand's website, also includes references to the retailer's pop-up stores in Macy's locations. Parent company WHP Global announced last year that it was partnering with Go Retail Group to open up to 24 flagship stores in the U.S. starting in 2024. Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and liquidated its stores in 2018, but now has annual retail sales of $2 billion, according to WHP Global.
“The creative industry is experiencing a renaissance, just like Toys R Us,” Kreberoff said in a statement. “Through Sora, we were able to tell this incredible story with incredible speed and efficiency. Toys R Us was the perfect brand to embrace this AI-first strategy, and we're thrilled to work with their creative team to lead the next wave of innovative storytelling.”
Using Sora, the brand and agency went from concept to final product in just a few weeks, condensing hundreds of iterative shots down to just a few dozen. The video was created almost entirely in Sora, but includes some corrective visual effects and an original score by Aaron Marsh of the rock band Copeland.
Toys R Us is one of many brands, including Coca-Cola and Starburst, that are using generative AI to create campaign materials. The technology is also key to the growth plans of tech platforms such as Google and Meta, and ad agency holding companies such as Publicis, WPP and Havas.
