You can’t only blame AI for that creepy Toys ‘R’ Us ad

When Toys “R” Us unveiled a new ad created entirely with OpenAI’s new Sora platform at Cannes Lions last week, its intention was to show off the creative potential of AI. The brand hails it as the first-ever brand film made with AI.

The spot tells the history of the brand’s founder, Charles Lazarus, and mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe. Starting in a humble garage back in the 1930s, we hear of how this son of a bike shop owner dreamed of the world’s greatest toy store before entering a glittering portal filled with 3D rendered unicorns and toy trains.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Toys”R”Us (@toysrus)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Toys”R”Us (@toysrus)

Amid all the fears that AI will usurp the creative class, the commercial should help creative professionals sleep a little easier. As a piece of advertising, this thing is an abomination. But it’s not all on Sora—much of the blame rests on the humans behind the AI.

Let’s start with the obvious: Toys “R” Us chose to tell a story that is neither interesting or well-told. No matter how cool Sora’s visuals could have been, the commercial’s conceit did not set it up for success. That’s pure human error.

Then there’s the visuals. They are both stilted and creepy. Not quite real enough to veer into the Uncanny Valley, but strange enough to signal to viewers that something is off. It is the advertising equivalent of six finger photos and putting glue on pizza.

Still early days

We are still in the early days of generative video. And to be clear, it’s a technical feat to create an entire commercial with AI. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

There have been impressive pieces of work created with and in reference to AI in the past year, among them Cadbury, Dove, and Coca-Cola. But in my many conversations in Cannes with CMOs across industries about AI, producing actual creative work ranked low on their list of priorities. Right now, it is being utilized more effectively across customer service, and accelerating internal processes. Every CMO I spoke to said it was still incredibly early days for its use in actual brand creative work. Thanks to Toys “R” Us, we see why.

Accenture Song CEO and ad legend David Droga told Fast Company that, despite creative industry anxiety, there is and has always been a “mediocre middle” when it comes to advertising, marketing, and entertainment. And his hope would be that AI can help elevate it. But one possible unfortunate side effect, at least for now, is that AI doesn’t rid us of that mediocre middle at all—it could actually give us more of it, and faster than ever.

Ahead of his talk with OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati at Cannes, Droga told me that he thinks a lot of brands and clients see the efficiencies AI can provide. And that while originality, innovation, along with taste and nuance of understanding and empathy can never be outsourced, “not all creativity . . . is worth preserving.”

Add this Toys “R” Us abomination to that list.