Gucci released a series of AI-generated visuals in early 2026 to promote its Milan Fashion Week show and drew immediate public criticism, with commenters describing the imagery as cheap and lazy and inconsistent with a brand positioned on Italian craftsmanship. Inc. documented the reaction as part of broader coverage of consumer response to AI-generated advertising.
The pattern predates the Gucci campaign. Coca-Cola produced a fully AI-generated version of its Holidays Are Coming commercial in 2024, which Inc. identifies as the point where mainstream audiences began pushing back. Reporting on the campaign described the output as technically competent while characters appeared artificial.
Measured sentiment during a February 2026 advertising cycle was sharply negative, with nearly 50 percent of tracked mentions registering as negative, a rate more critical than the broader advertising sentiment baseline over the same period. The term AI slop entered common use as the shorthand insult. Survey data cited in the coverage found that 19 percent of users in 2026 described feeling excited about AI, down from 50 percent two years earlier.
Brands have responded by inverting the approach. Almond Breeze and Equinox launched campaigns that make AI the subject of the joke rather than the production method. Other advertisers have hired directors specifically to produce behind-the-scenes footage documenting human production, using verified human authorship as a selling point.
The shift indicates that visible AI generation now carries measurable brand cost in consumer-facing creative work.
Source: Inc. - https://www.inc.com/annabel-burba/the-ai-ad-backlash-is-here-and-big-brands-are-leaning-in/91285342