Coca-Cola’s 2025 holiday spot “Refresh Your Holidays” revives the brand’s famous “Holidays Are Coming” convoy of glittering red trucks – but this time with a 21st-century twist. Released in early November 2025, the new ad was created mainly with generative AI technology, blending dazzling CGI and live-action elements. It shows light-wrapped Coke trucks winding through snowy forests and city streets, catching the eye of animals (polar bears, pandas, even otters) and people. A familiar choral Christmas tune swells as the procession brings “festive magic” to all. The intent is clearly to fuse Coke’s nostalgic imagery with cutting-edge visuals, celebrating holiday spirit and human connection in the digital age.
Yet while the campaign is ambitious, it has ignited a firestorm of debate. On one hand, Coca-Cola executives emphasize that this is an evolution – a “collaboration between human creativity and cutting-edge technology”. They highlight that the refreshed ad used over 70,000 video clips and new character designs (like mischievous squirrels) to give a cinematic sheen to the classic concept. The company also rolled out a companion 30-second spot, “A Holiday Memory,” featuring a woman who rekindles holiday cheer through a magical snowglobe, and launched its traditional Christmas truck tour in November and December. This high-tech approach, they argue, frees up production time and lets the brand tailor multiple versions for different markets, all while honoring Coke’s tradition of inspiring joy.
What Fans Are Saying: Magic vs. Mechanics
But fans and ad-watchers are deeply divided. One camp admires the visually rich scenes – praising the vivid, hyper-real animation and global scope. These supporters point out fun details like pandas and penguins reacting with delight, and the trucks’ wheels finally turning realistically rather than gliding over snow. Some even call the new look a “bold evolution” of a 30-year tradition, mixing AI and human artistry to create dreamlike new moments.
Critics, however, have been far more vocal. Many viewers say the ad feels “soulless,” “uninspiring,” or outright “sloppy”. On social media, comments ranged from disappointment (“There is nothing magic about this slop”) to cynicism about AI’s role (“Coke is ‘red’ because it’s made from the blood of out-of-work artists,” joked one viral post). Analysts on sites like Marketing-Interactive report that a significant portion of online responses mention lost nostalgia – lamenting that a synthetic aesthetic has replaced the familiar warmth of past holiday ads. In fact, data suggests only about 10% of the new campaign’s online mentions were positive versus over 30% negative after launch.
Common criticisms center on the emotional disconnect viewers feel with the new spot. The absence of familiar human touches—like the near-invisibility of Santa Claus, who appears only as a fleeting pair of gloved hands—has led some to call the ad hollow. The CGI animal characters, meant to evoke wonder, instead come off to many as stiff and poorly animated, more like avatars from a mid-tier mobile game than magical holiday companions.
Stylistically, the ad veers between hyper-realism and cartoonish abstraction, a combination that some critics argue is more jarring than artful. One reviewer described the visuals as “flat,” and the animated sequences as “weird (and cheap),” pointing out that despite the cutting-edge technology, the result feels far removed from the handcrafted warmth of Coca-Cola’s past.
On a deeper level, the ad has sparked frustration around the increasing use of AI in creative industries. Many commenters on social media have accused Coca-Cola of cost-cutting at the expense of authenticity. They question the ethics of replacing human craftsmanship with algorithm-generated content, especially for a flagship holiday campaign long associated with tradition and artistry. The prevailing concern: in chasing innovation, Coke may have lost something irreplaceable.
At the same time, a small minority of commenters argue the controversy itself is intentional viral marketing, suggesting Coke may have knowingly courted debate to boost engagement. Some even cheered Pepsi or other rivals on to capitalize on Coke’s misstep.
Brand and Agency Perspective
Coca-Cola’s creative team is standing by the new ad. Islam ElDessouky, Coke’s Global VP of Creative Strategy, notes that the campaign “truly embodies our commitment to inspiring human connection and uplifting moments especially during the holiday season”. The brand stresses that the fresh visuals were created by teams at agencies like WPP’s VML, Secret Level and Silverside AI – including dozens of creatives and AI engineers – rather than by purely automated software. They also highlight that production was significantly faster and more cost-effective: Chief Marketing Officer Manolo Arroyo reportedly told The Wall Street Journal that AI tools shaved many months off the usual year-long process. In other words, Coke argues, AI is just another tool to tell stories, allowing them to iterate and personalize content quickly. Indeed, even Coca-Cola’s ad campaign history page frames “Refresh Your Holidays” as a next step in its evolution, marrying “the brand’s rich holiday heritage with cutting-edge digital tools” (as one press release put it).
Tradition vs. Technology
To understand why fans care so deeply, it helps to recall Coke’s storied holiday traditions. The original “Holidays Are Coming” ad from 1995 – featuring real trucks decked out in Christmas lights – was hand-filmed by directors and quickly became a beloved ritual. For decades, Coke’s Christmas work (from Santa Claus paintings by Haddon Sundblom starting in 1931 to warm-palette polar bear animations) relied on tangible artistry and heartfelt storytelling. Those classic ads were literally shot on location, using live vehicles and scores of extras, and their simple piano jingle became iconic. Fans grew accustomed to marking the season with a sense of nostalgia and authenticity that no two ads ever felt the same.
“Refresh Your Holidays,” by contrast, is undeniably a high-tech creation. The entire film is essentially built from CGI and machine-generated imagery. To long-time Coke fans this can feel like trading a handcrafted quilt for a digital screensaver. In its sharpest critiques, the ad is accused of “cheating” on that tradition – swapping tangible Christmas cheer for computer wizardry. As one ad industry observer put it, no matter how much AI has improved, “using it for a flagship Christmas campaign…lowers the standard for everyone”.
The Verdict: Polarized Reviews
In the end, the response to “Refresh Your Holidays” is mixed. Some praise its technical flair and see it as a bold experiment in an era of rapid AI advances. Others worry it misses the heart of what made Coke’s holiday commercials magical in the first place. The ad has certainly succeeded in one goal: sparking conversation. With tens of thousands of social media comments and reactions (some counting 30,000+ “likes” on critique threads), it has become a must-watch talking point for ad lovers.
DailyCommercials’ view: Coca-Cola’s latest holiday ad is a striking example of how technology can both revitalize and ruffle a legacy. The lush new imagery and whimsical scenes are undeniably eye-catching, but they’ve also exposed a rift between innovation and nostalgia. In balancing old and new, Coke may have generated buzz – but it’s clear not everyone feels the holiday spirit. Readers, what do you think: does AI enhance the holiday magic, or leave us longing for the human touch of the classics?
