Brands promoting ads featuring artificial intelligence, and tech capabilities at large, are not reading the room.
Major brands like Levi’s and Toys R Us have eagerly experimented with AI in their marketing efforts. Tech giants like Google and Apple have funneled billions into their AI technology.
Despite these efforts, their attempts to sell AI to people have missed the mark.
From tone-deaf messaging to unintentional bias, several high-profile AI ad snafus were lambasted and sparked conversations about the power of AI in people’s lives.
“Viewers have been hit with a tsunami of AI ads this summer, and during the Olympics in particular,” said Gartner vp analyst Nicole Greene. “Many of the ads that are receiving backlash are showcasing a future that many people fear, one where we have lives increasingly connected to screens, with curated content served on demand and lacking uniquely human and authentic connection.”
ADWEEK compiled the most controversial AI-adjacent ads, asking analysts to evaluate emotional resonance and predict brand growth based on ad creativity.
No gold medal for Google’s “Dear Sydney” Olympic ad
The ad: Google’s 60-second ad “Dear Sydney” begins with a father wanting to help his daughter write a letter to her Olympic idol, the American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. However, the ad takes an awkward turn when instead of helping his daughter write the letter, he prompts Gemini to do it for them.
The controversy: Criticism quickly followed the ad after it began airing during NBCU’s Olympic broadcast, with many viewers lambasting it for being tone-deaf on AI overshadowing the human effort to write a heartfelt fan letter, while others found the ad to be “less inspiring.”
“This ad makes me want to throw a sledgehammer into the television every time I see it,” wrote Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri. Google pulled its ad after backlash.
Analysis: Despite the negative backlash, System1, which uses a Star rating to predict brand growth based on an ad’s creative quality, gave Google’s Olympic spot a strong score of 4.4 out of 5.9.
It also found that Sydney’s human story does the heavy emotional lifting, prioritizing people over the product, and champions diversity and inclusion. However, System1’s analysis also found a negative emotional response from the audience is generated when Gemini is introduced in the ad.
“AI is a challenging topic to address, consistently evoking fear and contempt among audiences. Ads discussing AI generate twice the negative emotion compared to other ads,” said Jon Evans, chief customer officer, System1. “Writing letters is an intensely personal and human activity and replacing it with AI diminishes the personal connection. AI should serve as an assistant, not a substitute, enhancing human creativity rather than overshadowing it.”
