Coca-Cola is sharing its iconic, festive brand assets so that anyone can design bespoke digital holiday cards using the latest AI technology.
Consumers can experiment with the holiday-themed content to make their own shareable holiday cards on CreateRealMagic.com, including Coca-Cola’s cherished depictions of Santa Claus, created by Haddon Sundblom in 1931, and the company’s much-loved family of polar bears, first used by the company in 1993.
By sharing these storied assets with consumers — and allowing them to be seen through the prism of new technology — they can be rediscovered by a younger generation.
Pratik Thakar, Coca-Cola’s global head of Generative AI, said the company wanted to use this holiday season to create a positive space for people to express their creativity.
The company is leaning into the potential of AI and demonstrating how it, combined with an iconic brand like Coke, can bring people together in the spirit of holiday magic.
Thakar: “We, at Coca-Cola, are connecting the dots between culture, creativity and technology. The Create Real Magic platform invites consumers to use AI for crafting artwork using iconic creative elements from the Coca-Cola archives. Create Real Magic cards are a perfect way for us to celebrate people and the holidays using AI. We are humble but iconic, real yet magical and this latest campaign is a testament of the same.”
The initiative builds on the success of Create Real Magic, the first platform of its kind to combine the capabilities of GPT-4, which produces human-like text from search engine queries, and DALL-E, which produces images based on text. With these AI tools, users will be able to reimagine and share some of the company’s most iconic assets, creating connections across time zones and national boundaries.
“AI presents a unique opportunity to connect with the changing world of digital innovation and, by playing to a cultural moment like the holidays, we can find new, innovative ways for our audience to engage and connect, and to continue to learn in this space,” said Selman Careaga, president, Global Coca-Cola category.
UK creative director Paul Parsons is just one of the creators to explore the capabilities of Create Real Magic.
He says: “I’m all about using design to entertain and inform, and AI has opened up endless possibilities that allow me to do both. Having access to some of the most recognized holiday iconography and being able to put my own spin on it, with no limits, has been amazing. I can’t wait to share my take of the Coca-Cola holiday card.”