A Heartfelt but Haunting Holiday Tale
Ending text in English: “Bottles and cans can be given new life. Animals can’t.“
In a season usually filled with jolly jingles and cozy cheer, Infinitum’s Christmas commercial 2025 has stunned audiences with a very different kind of holiday story. Infinitum – the Norwegian non-profit behind the country’s bottle recycling program – released an animated ad that starts out like a gentle Christmas fable but quickly turns into a sobering environmental lesson. In the 40-second film, a family of field mice takes shelter from a blizzard inside an empty plastic bottle discarded in the woods. The scene glows with warm, nostalgic 2D animation reminiscent of a classic Don Bluth cartoon, complete with a mother mouse tucking in her babies on a bed of soft scraps. But the idyll is short-lived. Suddenly a gust of wind topples the bottle, trapping the mice. What once seemed a safe little home becomes a deadly prison as the parents realize they cannot escape. It’s a gut-punch twist that lands hard – precisely the point. Infinitum’s ad dramatizes a real-world problem: bottles and cans left as litter can become lethal traps for small animals who crawl inside. The haunting final message on screen implores viewers to “Pant alt” – “Recycle everything” – so that no more innocuous containers turn into unintended mousetraps in nature.
This emotionally charged narrative has left a powerful impression. Many viewers admit the heart-rending spot moved them to tears, a rare reaction to a recycling PSA. Norwegian media report the tale of the mouse family is already “creating strong reactions” nationwide. On social platforms, commenters describe watching the ad “with a lump in the throat,” shaken by how quickly a cute Christmas scene became a tragedy – and by the sobering knowledge that such tragedies really happen. It’s not the kind of feel-good fare we expect at Christmas, and indeed Infinitum’s own communications director, Randi Haavik Varberg, says “it feels brutal to make a sad Christmas film” – yet seeing what happens to animals in reality felt even more brutal, motivating the company to tell this story. By daring to “ruin” the holiday mood, Infinitum cuts through the festive fluff to deliver a memorable call to action. The gamble seems to be paying off: the ad has rapidly gone viral beyond Norway, racking up millions of views within days of release. Advertising pundits have taken note too – AdAge hailed the mini-film as “a gut punch of a holiday ad” for its emotional wallop.
Old-School Craft in an AI Age
One reason Infinitum’s commercial is being praised widely is its meticulous craftsmanship. In an era when many advertisers are chasing trends like CGI automation and AI-generated content, Infinitum boldly went the opposite direction. The company and its agency Pulse committed to a fully hand-drawn, 2D animated production – no generative AI shortcuts, no cheap tricks. According to Infinitum, a dedicated team of 15 artists labored for over three months, drawing every frame of the animation by hand. The care shows in every detail, from the expressive character animation to the richly painted backgrounds of the winter forest. There’s a palpable, old-fashioned warmth to the visuals, intentionally evoking the look of 1970s Christmas cartoons that many viewers grew up with. In fact, the filmmakers explicitly took inspiration from the works of Don Bluth and other classic animators, aiming to rekindle a bit of that vintage magic.
That commitment to traditional artistry extends to the soundtrack as well. Rather than use stock music or AI-composed jingles, Infinitum had an original score composed and then recorded live by the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, captured in full cinematic Dolby Atmos sound. Hearing real strings swell as the drama unfolds adds to the ad’s immersive impact. It’s the kind of lavish production value rarely seen in a short PSA, and it reflects Infinitum’s philosophy. “As the company behind Norway’s deposit-return system, we wanted to show we take communication seriously,” Varberg explains – even a tiny ad can be a “good piece of craftsmanship” if you truly believe in your message. The project’s producer, Jakob Thommessen, put it more bluntly: In a world where marketers increasingly trust AI tools to do the work, Infinitum deliberately chose a human-driven approach. “People might put a bit too much faith in AI and digital tools as a way to skip doing the job,” Thommessen says, “but if you want to create a story that makes people feel something, you have to put in the work it requires.” In other words, genuine emotional resonance isn’t something you can generate at the click of a button – it has to be earned through human creativity and effort.
That ethos has clearly struck a chord. Online, viewers are applauding Infinitum’s hand-crafted touch, noting how refreshing it is to see “actual 2D animation” in a modern ad. In comment sections and forums, many have drawn an explicit contrast to a far bigger brand’s holiday campaign this year – one that took the opposite route, to much chagrin.
Coca-Cola’s AI Experiment – and Backlash
The 2025 Coca-Cola Christmas ad has unintentionally become the perfect foil for Infinitum’s film. Coca-Cola, long famed for its iconic Christmas trucks and sentimental holiday commercials, chose a radically different strategy: they produced their new ad almost entirely with AI-generated imagery. The result? A visually chaotic remix of Coke’s classic “Holidays Are Coming” theme, featuring computer-generated Santa Claus and delivery trucks that morph and glitch in surreal ways. The reception has been icy. While Infinitum’s lovingly drawn spot is being celebrated, Coca-Cola’s high-tech venture earned a firestorm of criticism and ridicule online. Viewers were quick to spot bizarre inconsistencies – for instance, the signature red Coke truck inexplicably changes shape and even the number of wheels from one frame to the next. The ad’s digital characters and winter scenes, assembled from thousands of AI-generated clips, struck many as “soulless” and eerily off-putting rather than heartwarming.
On social media, Coca-Cola’s once-beloved Christmas commercial was lambasted as “AI slop” – a jumble of algorithmic visuals lacking any human touch or charm. Creative industry blogs did not hold back either: one outlet blasted Coke’s ad as “an AI-generated slop-fest for the ages,” calling it the “absolute opposite of Christmas” in spirit. The consensus among many fans is that Coke’s attempt to automate nostalgia backfired – trading the genuine warmth of past campaigns for something that feels cheap and cynical. This is actually the second year in a row Coca-Cola has gone the AI route for the holidays, doubling down despite last year’s negative feedback. The strategy has prompted a lot of debate. Some marketing watchers cynically suggest Coca-Cola knew an AI ad would generate controversy – and thus free publicity from all the chatter, however negative. Indeed, the company has proudly noted that last year’s much-maligned AI experiment became “one of the most talked-about ads of the year”. By that measure, they’ve succeeded again – everybody is talking about Coca-Cola’s ad, but mostly to jeer at its uncanny visuals and bemoan the loss of the old Coke holiday magic.
Tradition vs. Technology: Finding the Christmas Spirit
The stark contrast between Infinitum’s and Coca-Cola’s approaches has sparked a wider conversation about the role of technology in advertising. On one hand, we have a small Scandinavian recycling firm that poured resources into authentic storytelling and craftsmanship, creating an ad that feels like a mini hand-painted film. On the other, a global beverage giant opted for cutting-edge generative AI to churn out content, resulting in an ad that many see as impersonal and gimmicky. The public’s responses suggest that, at least when it comes to Christmas commercials, heartfelt humanity is winning out over artificial efficiency. Viewers are praising Infinitum’s film for its soul – its ability to make people feel – while Coca-Cola’s AI experiment is largely being met with eye-rolls and nostalgia for the days of classic, animator-made holiday ads.
That’s not to say Infinitum’s dramatic spot is above reproach. Its harrowing ending and somber tone have stirred some controversy, too. A few critics wonder if such a tragic narrative is too heavy-handed for a Christmas campaign – especially one that might catch unsuspecting families off guard during commercial breaks. The creatives behind the ad acknowledge it was a bold move. “It hurts when the story takes a dark turn, but that’s exactly the point,” say Pulse’s Ole Andreas Finseth and Stian Eriksen, the duo who crafted the concept. They felt that to jolt viewers into caring about littering, a happy-happy approach wouldn’t suffice. Instead, they delivered a memorable emotional shock – trusting that audiences, including kids, can handle a sad tale if it has a meaningful lesson. Judging by the overwhelming positive response, they may be right. The poignancy of the mouse family’s fate has people talking, thinking, and – crucially – vowing to be more conscientious about recycling this holiday. “If the film gets someone to recycle one extra bottle, or pick a can up from the gutter, then it’s done its job,” Varberg notes simply.
In the end, both Infinitum and Coca-Cola set out to capture the Christmas spirit – but they interpreted that spirit in radically different ways. Coca-Cola attempted to refresh its iconic brand image with AI flash and wound up with a cautionary tale of technology overwhelming heart. Infinitum, by contrast, went back to basics – telling a small, poignant story with old-fashioned animation and real artistic passion. The little Norwegian PSA may lack jingle bells and Santa smiles, but it arguably embodies the true essence of the season more than any algorithm could: empathy, care for the least among us (in this case, tiny forest creatures), and hope that our actions – however small – can make the world a kinder place. In our age of automation, Infinitum’s commercial is a timely reminder that authentic storytelling and human touch still matter. Sometimes, to cut through the noise, you don’t need AI gimmicks or glossy perfection; you just need a good story that comes from the heart – even if it makes us shed a tear along the way.
