Reviving Past Delights: Toys 'R' Us's Strategy to Capture Hearts through Generative Artificial Intelligence
AI-Generated Toys 'R' Us Commercial Falls Short in Emotional Engagement
A groundbreaking ad for international toy brand Toys 'R' Us, created with the help of Open AI's Sora, made its debut at the Cannes Lions Festival. The ad, intended to evoke nostalgia, happiness, and surprise for being a "Toys 'R' Us kid", went through numerous iterations for storyline and visuals. However, it underperformed in emotional engagement compared to human-created content.
The ad starts with a story about Toys 'R' Us founder Charles Lazarus as a young boy and his dream with Geoffrey the Giraffe, the brand's iconic mascot. The commercial focuses on the creation of the Toys 'R' Us brand and the memorable moments that made it a beloved part of childhood for many.
Despite its innovative approach, the AI-generated ad struggled to connect emotionally with viewers. A study conducted by Affectiva, using AI-driven emotion recognition technology, revealed that 61% of respondents did not realize that GenAI was used in the creation of the ad. For those who did recognize the use of AI, emotional engagement was stronger, particularly due to amusement of AI capabilities.
However, for those who did not recognize the use of AI, the ad struggled to connect emotionally. The critique of the Toys 'R' Us ad specifically mentioned that the AI-generated content sacrificed genuine human connection, which is vital for emotional engagement in advertising.
Research shows that while AI can support emotional recognition and communication across cultures, it often oversimplifies emotions and misses culturally specific emotional cues. This limitation likely affected the AI ad’s ability to connect deeply with audiences.
The ad used VFX for visual corrections and an original music score composed by Aaron Marsh. Despite these efforts, the emotional resonance typically achieved by human-created content was not replicated.
Previous research concluded that AI can enhance and optimize the creative process, but a consumer-centric creative idea and human input in execution are essential to create standout content. As technology continues to improve, the quality of AI-generated videos is set to be raised to a new level.
In summary, while the AI-generated commercial marked a milestone in ad creation, it did not replicate the emotional resonance typically achieved by human-created content, highlighting current constraints of AI in capturing subtle and accurate emotional narratives.
- Media analytics revealed that viewers had lower emotional engagement with the AI-generated Toys 'R' Us commercial compared to human-created ones.
- The use of facial coding technology in a study showed that 61% of respondents didn't realize that the commercial was created with AI, which potentially impacted its emotional connection with the audience.
- To create emotionally engaging advertisements, research suggests the need for a consumer-centric creative idea and human input in execution, even though AI can support and optimize the creative process.
