Almost, Not This Time: How We Made an AI Ad and Started a Debate

What We Actually Did

This week we dropped a Christmas spot made by one talented colleague and a bunch of AI tools. It cost about €400 and took 80 hours - down from the €300,000 and a small army it took us last year. We thought it was a neat experiment. Judging by the reaction, some of you thought we’d personally cancelled potato salad.

Was it perfect? Nope.
Could you tell it was created with AI? Yes.
Did some people feel it lacked heart? Absolutely.
A few even said it made them want to vomit - thanks for the festive spirit.

But the technology and the outcome are freaking awesome. Before we told people it was AI, people wept when watching the ad.

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The Outrage Olympics

Reading the comments, you’d imagine we’d asked baby Jesus to work through lunch.

Some of the loudest critics work in marketing and, if we’re honest, their career highlight is a 30-second ad for toilet paper. If an ad about presence and family doesn’t move you, but slow-motion pasta or a shiny teeth close-up does, maybe your problem isn’t AI.

What makes me smile is the split:

• On one side, people carefully circle every uncanny detail and British-looking kitchen frame by frame.

• On the other, people messaging, “Wow, this is clever,” and “For €400, that’s impressive!”

I see emotionally flat ads made by humans every day - often by the same agencies lecturing us on authenticity. If the bar is “don’t be boring,” AI did not invent that problem.

Also, let’s be honest about emotion: disgust, anger, envy… those are emotions too. We clearly stirred something. We stirred more passion than Slavia vs. Sparta on a bad refereeing day.

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Real People Behind the Pixels

Behind those pixels are real people.

Veronika burned 80 hours and a few brain cells making this. Our colleagues are scrolling through those comments. They didn’t even pick up a mouse, yet they’re watching strangers unload on something they care about.

Save the vomit emoji for the next time you present a ‘safe’ TV spot nobody remembers.

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You Weren’t the Target, Josef

Can we talk about the demographic breakdown? Most negative comments came from guys. That’s like me complaining the final season of Bridgerton didn’t have enough car chases. It wasn’t for you, Josef.

The spot was aimed at the unsung heroes who prep Christmas dinner, do the shopping and keep the whole thing from collapsing, while you’re Googling “what to do with the kids for longer than two hours.” If you didn’t cry, that’s okay. You’re allowed to be unmoved by other people’s joy. Just don’t pretend that means nobody else felt anything.

And by the way: people talk about “lack of emotion” in the film, but the emotions in the comments are very real. Disgust, anger, fear, ego… AI didn’t kill feelings. If anything, it dragged them all into the open.

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Change Is Coming Either Way

We didn’t set out to prove that AI is better than people. We set out to prove that it’s a tool worth exploring, especially when budgets are tight and curiosity is high. Some marketing folks feel threatened by that, and I get it. Change is scary when your livelihood depends on the old way of doing things.

But clinging to past methods and throwing stones at experiments is a very reliable way to make yourself irrelevant. The world will move on with or without your approval.

I’ve been told by professional marketers more than once that my ideas are “shit.” Yet here we are, still growing, still innovating. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and critique. It’s harder to build something new, take the heat, and come back next year with something better.

So throw your peanuts, write your hot takes. We’ll keep experimenting. Maybe next year’s ad will be entirely sung by AI dogs. Or maybe we’ll go old school and hire real elves. Either way, we’ll have fun, we’ll learn and we’ll keep delivering your groceries on time.

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Carry On Heckling

So, to those who gave constructive feedback: thank you.

To those who shouted “Bliju” and moved on: I hope St. Nicholas brings you a nice lump of coal.

And to the rest of you who watched, smiled, rolled your eyes, or argued in the comments: cheers. We love the conversation.

Merry Christmas from Team Rohlik - whether your ad of choice is AI-generated, hand-crafted, or somewhere in between. We’ll keep doing things our way, and we’re okay if it ruffles a few feathers along the way.