{"id":628137,"date":"2026-04-25T17:21:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/628137\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T17:21:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:21:21","slug":"ai-generated-ads-get-attention-but-is-it-the-good-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/628137\/","title":{"rendered":"AI-generated ads get attention, but is it the good kind?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ryan Patterson started his own AI-powered production house in Toronto. He is given a script and deploys AI to create images and animations to show to clients.Fred Lum\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Advertising is all about parcelling out the right information in the right way to the right people at the right time. As such, there are things advertisers would prefer not to disclose. For some, that includes the use of generative artificial intelligence in finished campaigns.<\/p>\n

Some brands in Canada are deploying generative AI, industry experts say, but in subtle ways, and usually on the down-low. \u201cA lot of brands are testing it out, seeing if consumers will notice,\u201d said Jil Lohnes, president of connected services at Salt XC, a marketing agency in Toronto. \u201cI can\u2019t reinforce enough the risk that brands feel about diving in.\u201d <\/p>\n

Those dangers are plentiful. Generative AI has proven distasteful to some parts of the public, for one thing, meaning ads made with the technology could attract the wrong kind of attention. Because systems that create images and videos from text prompts are built on content pulled from the internet, users also run the risk of infringing on someone else\u2019s intellectual property. (Some AI companies, such as Moonvalley<\/a>, say they train only on licensed content and that their models are commercially safe.)<\/p>\n

AI can make a mockery of the creative process, too. Generative AI tools tend to default to the most common visual tropes, which is a recipe for blandness and advertising failure. \u201cBrands live and die by their distinctiveness, and many generative models tend to produce homogeneous, undifferentiated outputs,\u201d said Ari Elkouby, chief creative officer at Dentsu Creative Canada, though he added the randomness can produce \u201chappy accidents,\u201d too. While AI programs have improved dramatically over the past couple of years, the output can still be unpredictable and inconsistent, making the process more time-consuming than expected. <\/p>\n

Some companies that have gone all-in with an AI-generated ad have faced the wrath of consumers. McDonald\u2019s in the Netherlands pulled one such ad in December after intense criticism, saying the ordeal marked \u201can important learning\u201d<\/a> for the company. Coca-Cola\u2019s AI-generated holiday ad last winter<\/a>, though less hallucinogenic than its attempt in 2024, still garnered online backlash. (Sample YouTube comment: \u201cI\u2019ve never wanted a Pepsi so badly in my entire life.\u201d) Alcool NB Liquor in New Brunswick was similarly pilloried for an amateurish holiday television spot featuring wonky AI-generated people, prompting the provincial minister responsible for the agency to request a halt to paid promotions.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the ad is getting attention because of how it was made, that\u2019s a disservice to the brand,\u201d said Patrick Henderson, vice-president of strategy at Mint, an agency in Toronto. <\/p>\n

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Given these episodes, it is not surprising that a common occurrence reporting this story went as follows: An agency would reference their use of AI in an ad \u2013 typically for minor visual enhancements such as swapping out a background \u2013 but then fail to secure permission from the client to discuss it. <\/p>\n

An exception is when the technology is integral to the ad itself. Salt worked on a campaign with Visa that involved interviewing girls who play sports about their aspirations, and then used AI to depict them as adults working as professional players, coaches and so on. \u201cIt\u2019s not how you would traditionally think of generative AI,\u201d Ms. Lohnes said. \u201cThat one\u2019s a bit safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The use of AI during pre-production to create storyboards and develop concepts has proved less controversial. Agencies can present the material to clients, collect feedback and iterate to arrive at a finished idea faster than in the past. \u201cWe can visualize things that would have taken weeks to make otherwise,\u201d Henderson said. \u201cWe can create 50 versions of it at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trend is creating new opportunities for professionals who know how to use AI tools such as Midjourney, Runway, Adobe\u2019s product suite and many others. <\/p>\n

Ryan Patterson, for one, started AI-powered production house Queen One Studios in Toronto in 2024. He and his co-founder Alana Robshaw have used generative AI to create re-enactment footage for a documentary and are taking on advertising work, too. Mr. Patterson will be given a script and then deploy AI to create images and animations to show to clients. \u201cThe beauty of using AI is you can get realistic-looking actors in the scenes with consistent characters, and show those emotions,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s easier for the client to understand how a spot is going to land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Typically none of this content sees the light of day, however; a real production crew with real actors will make the finished product. \u201cWhen they film in a studio, they\u2019ll have the reference, and they\u2019ll know the actor needs to look just like that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

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When it comes to putting AI-generated content into the world, many brands are starting small, with, say, an image to accompany a social-media post. Often companies are not paying to promote these posts on social networks because that risks exposing it to a wider audience instead of just loyal followers, Ms. Lohnes said. It\u2019s also common for direct-to-consumer product companies to take a single photo of a product and use AI to generate multiple images of it from different angles or settings, rather than having to take multiple pictures.<\/p>\n

Some studies show that brands have good reasons not to broadcast their use of generative AI. Research firm Kantar found that 41 per cent of consumers<\/a> surveyed said that AI-generated ads bothered them, compared with 29 per cent of marketers. It also found that ads containing obviously AI-generated visuals performed worse than those that were subtle. \u201cGen AI ads are more likely to make people feel, but not always in a good way,\u201d according to the survey results.<\/p>\n

Researchers at New York University and Emory University, meanwhile, found that disclosing the use of AI<\/a> in an advertisement reduced its effectiveness. Click-through rates fell by as much as 31.5 per cent. Somewhat disconcertingly, the study also found that entirely AI-generated ads performed better than those made by human experts, provided consumers weren\u2019t told about the AI part.<\/p>\n

Even with the potential pitfalls, some companies are asking agencies to use the technology in hopes of saving money. \u201cThere\u2019s this belief that AI means we don\u2019t have to work as hard or as long, and therefore they shouldn\u2019t have to pay as much,\u201d said Ryan Timms, who was president of McCann Canada for seven years until stepping down earlier this year. Some clients came to the agency with a smaller budget but expecting the same quality of work in the same timeframe that a larger sum would command. \u201cYou can\u2019t just press a button and have this thing spit out a great product,\u201d Mr. Timms said.<\/p>\n

Mo Bofill, partner at creative agency One Twenty Three West in Toronto, has been fielding similar queries. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some clients that will question, \u2018Do we need a photographer and illustrator to do that, or can AI do that?\u2019\u201d she said. She\u2019s clear with clients that using AI to mimic an artist\u2019s style amounts to taking their intellectual property.<\/p>\n

Among Canada\u2019s lawyers, the jury is still out on AI<\/a><\/p>\n

There is a general push, however, to compress timelines and costs. Occasionally, the production companies the agency works with will say that a special effect can be completed with AI for less money than with traditional CGI methods, but Ms. Bofill said the cost savings have been minimal so far. At least one spot for a brand spearheaded by One Twenty Three West incorporated a generative AI element \u2013 but, no, she cannot name it. <\/p>\n

Still, there are many industry players who believe it is inevitable that more AI-generated content will make its way into advertisements, especially as the technology improves. \u201cAt the end of the day, it will probably be a financial decision,\u201d Mr. Patterson said.<\/p>\n

The key is how it will be used, and how advertisers balance consumer perceptions. \u201cIf you can tell that it\u2019s AI, then it\u2019s not good enough,\u201d said Stephan Pretorius, chief technology officer at ad giant WPP in London. Consumers don\u2019t want to be duped, he continued, which makes the depiction of AI-generated people in advertisements dicey. That\u2019s also where AI can be a dead giveaway. <\/p>\n

But that may not be true for much longer. The technology is getting better, and so are the people using it. Benjamin Benichou founded AI production studio 3.11LABS in New York last year, and in March put out a 30-second ad<\/a> for U.S. software company RingCentral Inc. Everything, including the voices, are AI-generated. The spot features a harried unicorn, styled and animated to resemble a real-world puppet, working at a flower shop and dealing with a customer. Four people worked on it, whereas a traditional shoot could have required a crew of 20 to 40.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s notable is how much more realistic it looks than previous AI ads. \u201cWe don\u2019t want anyone to be able to say it looks terrible,\u201d Mr. Benichou said. \u201cThat\u2019s the first thing that will make our clients more comfortable going full-on with AI production.\u201d<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t believe that live-action shoots will cease for advertisements, but AI-based productions will become more common. That will lead to fewer opportunities for people whose jobs are tied to physical productions. \u201cIn terms of cost and efficiency, the vast majority of the time, it doesn\u2019t make sense to continue spending millions of dollars,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Ryan Patterson started his own AI-powered production house in Toronto. He is given…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,901,276,277,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-628137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-alberta","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}