As humans, we tend to care more about change than the status quo. You’d never walk up to a friend and casually ask what they weigh. But let them lose a few pounds, and suddenly you turn into an amateur detective. The same goes for content: No one clicks “How To Stay the Same.” We want to see what shifted, what broke, what reformed. That’s why claims like “AI tools didn’t change anything” rarely land, even if they hold some truth.
The real tension with AI technology in marketing isn’t just hype fatigue — it’s the sheer number of believable voices pulling in opposite directions. You’ll hear your marketing team urging experimentation (with guardrails), while Compliance reminds you of every possible lawsuit and regulators start circling anything that moves. Meanwhile, tech leaders keep unveiling AI algorithms that promise either a creative renaissance or the extinction of our jobs — maybe both before lunch.
In just the last two years alone, major players have placed bold bets on AI innovation and marketing strategy:
- Google releasing Veo while advocating for personalized ad variants.
- Meta planning a fully automated AI-powered ad platform.
- Adobe promoting a human-first approach to AI in brand expression.
- Microsoft leaning heavily into marketing ROI with AI-driven tools.
All of this can make AI marketing tools feel inevitable — but not necessarily approachable. So instead of debating if AI belongs in advertising, let’s focus on how it’s already being used. Here are 15 examples showing how marketers are using AI tools, from ad copy generation and product descriptions to detailed workflows serving a better customer experience.
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Uncanny, Unmissable: AI-Powered Video’s “Artificial vs. Real” Phase
If you’ve talked to any experts on AI integration, be it in marketing or elsewhere, you may have noticed a pattern: Everyone can quickly point to that one thing their AI solution still can’t handle. Maybe it’s us shaking the box to see when it breaks; maybe it’s insecurity. Either way, we can’t resist testing the limits.
1. Coca-Cola: AI Meets Holiday Nostalgia (and Backlash)
Countless video makers have actually turned this very urge into a theme across the market, and for good reason. After corporate giant Coca-Cola jumped on the generative AI bandwagon to re-imagine its classic holiday ad, viewers on every online platform were quick to mock the “almost-but-not-quite-human” results. The takeaway? Audiences notice when a marketing campaign feels off — especially when it toys with tradition.
2. Zevia Leaning Into the Artificial
Marketers quickly picked up on the vibe. So instead of trying to hide their AI use in marketing campaigns, some brands made over-optimized visuals the punchline. Zevia’s TV spot opens with a range of over-the-top AI videos, from random trucks plowing through snowmen to a couple with string lights as teeth staring into a flowing soda bottle. The theme? “Artificially generated people hold up artificial sodas — for no reason.”
You guessed it: Not only did they manage to pull off using an AI video generator for their marketing efforts, but they also linked artificial intelligence to artificial flavors and sugars in competitors’ products.
3. BODYARMOR
Once the first brands had defined what made their products “real,” the ad theme spread faster than a cat meme.
Similar to Zevia, BODYARMOR was quick to emphasize that “there’s no substitute for real.” This allowed them to show their awareness of technological trends while also propping up their product.
4. BMW Certified
But the AI vs. real wave didn’t stop there. At this point, we’ve all either seen a report on someone falling for AI slop or done so ourselves. BMW put that societal sentiment at the core of their ad for BMW Certified. So it’s not just about the trustworthiness of the program, but also shows compassion for the general insecurities that AI has caused in all situations of our daily lives.
5. Banca AideXa
As a rare counter-trend, Italian bank Banca AideXa didn’t rely on AI to craft over-the-top visuals of exploding clowns drinking lightbulbs poured from a soda bottle. Instead, they took a step that will most likely become the more standard route, once the initial hype wears off.
They knew they wanted a specific visual style to represent a new product in a coherent, on-brand message. Their TV commercial might as well have been a cartoon from the ’70s. They just happened to optimize campaigns using AI.
6. Toys “R” Us Meets Sora
Similar to BMW, Toys “R” Us simply looked at generative AI as a new societal development, another cutting-edge technology to master. And if your brand already tells the story of a visionary founder creating market trends rather than following them, even the average consumer won’t perceive minor technical imperfections in a video clip as errors. They’re simply a sign that you’re marching ahead.
What To Steal
As we’ve seen, AI use doesn’t have to be bad in itself, even if the results may differ from what we used to know. If your company does adopt it, you can embrace the imperfections (like Zevia). You can also trade on realness and tie the opposite argument to your brand identity and story (like BODYARMOR or BMW).
When Words Do the Work: Using AI for Copy That Moves the Needle
Videos are one of those fields where, even today, many AI outputs look very obviously off or fake. But what about something more straightforward? What about marketing copy and engagement? Turns out, some companies are using AI for that as well.
7. JPMorgan Chase
This is the moment where the writer in me has to swallow his pride, so bear with me. Sometimes, even the best writers have to admit that a generative AI tool can do a better job. There, I said it.
JPMorgan Chase and Persado created a “message machine” that drafts copy based on a database of past emotional appeal and consumer preference scores. It’s a great example of a well-controlled process with detailed guardrails and limited applications. In short, ideal conditions for certain automation workflows.
8. Virgin Holidays
Similar to JPMorgan Chase, Virgin Holidays relies on an AI tool called Phrasee to do one thing and one thing only — draft email subject lines.
If you know anything about email marketing, you’re aware of the difference between a decent and a great subject line. Actionable insights into customer interactions can give you the edge to truly achieve engagement without coming off as salesy. In pure numbers, Virgin Holidays saw a 2% bump in open rates that equaled millions in revenue.
9. Barry Plant’s “Grace” Bot
Mere copy generation is certainly not the only use case for AI bots, and Barry Plant is a perfect example.
When you open the real estate agency’s site in the near future, your first interaction will be with Grace, an AI bot who sits on historical home data, floor plans, price averages for certain geographical areas and features for listing comparison. So, the output may be text, but it’s clear that the enterprise invested a lot of time and effort in compliance and data analysis, not to mention model training, to put it all together.
10. Manufactum’s Shopping Advisor
Many German enterprises certainly take a more cautious approach when it comes to AI adoption or predictive analytics.
For that reason, it’s interesting to see exceptions to the rule like Manufactum’s virtual Shopping Advisor. If you haven’t been to a Manufactum store, it’s the type of experience where you walk in expecting to buy pencils and go home with a vintage shovel and a Bauhaus chair.
So it’s easy to see why the retailer would invest in an AI model. Not only does it reflect their high-level service, but it also helps customers navigate the corn maze that is their product catalog.
11. Il Foglio
This example requires a little context to avoid giving the wrong impression. You’ve probably seen examples of newspapers or news portals that have fallen flat on their faces with AI. Just recently, hallucinations in a Deloitte report for the Australian government kicked off an entire debate about AI use in certain government departments.
And especially in Europe, where issues of privacy and digital cultural heritage are more strongly governed by legal frameworks, there are frequent calls for AI solutions that are tailored to the cultural characteristics of individual countries while also protecting consumer data.
With that said, Italian newspaper Il Foglio reported on their journalistic experiment, where they aimed to use AI for an entire newspaper and, apparently, with decent results. While the model didn’t add actual quotes by humans, and while some old-school journalists will certainly take offense, experiments like these beg the question: At what point does AI become good enough to cover an entire workflow that doesn’t offend customer preferences?
What To Steal
First, it’s critical not to just think of AI as a machine that cranks out words. As these examples show, you can set up anything from shop assistants to headline generators. The result may technically be text, but it’ll always serve different purposes. So far, we’ve also seen that the most successful examples either use AI in a very controlled environment or with a full-blown data analytics and management system. For anyone adopting AI solutions, that means you still need to treat AI like a high-throughput junior copywriter. You can rely on them for speed, sometimes even performance, but you’ll only get security with the right setup.
Make a Point About the Point: Meta Ads and Responsible AI in Marketing
Are you ready for your red pill moment? Good. Because now that you’ve seen how different ads play with AI absurdity, slop or how they built systems around the technology’s weaknesses, it’s time we talk about the philosophers — brands developing entire stories on top of AI trends.
12. Dove: Keep Beauty Real
Maybe you’ve only used AI to generate funny office party invites where an octopus is not only sitting in the punch bowl but also serving drinks with 14 arms (as they do).
However, certain groups may run into problems based on the standards or expectations that a generated description or image suggests. We can’t go into all the ways in which certain AI outputs might cause harm, but we can talk about one company trying to offer a cure.
To fight back against beauty standards represented by AI-generated pictures of women, Dove published a prompt guide to get representative images. Not only does it match Dove’s already established motto “Real Beauty,” it addresses a societal issue — or at least it tries to raise awareness.
13. L’Oréal’s Push for Beauty Content
Even though they may not be in the exact same niche, it’s clear that Dove and L’Oréal share certain product lines and clientele. But while similar in intention, L’Oréal took a slightly different path.
Rather than hand users a guide for AI, they announced how they would use it. In one of their announcements, the company stated how it’d prioritize “responsible AI asset production within a robust ethical framework.”
That goes to show that, even when others in your industry may have made AI part of their narrative, that choice doesn’t force you to do the same. You can still choose a more practical, bureaucratic, ethics-oriented or experimental approach.
14. Deutsche Telekom’s “A Message from Ella”
Where Dove focused on false beauty standards, Deutsche Telekom targets sharenting, another example of AI potentially harming certain groups of people.
The ad shows Ella’s parents at the movies, where a deepfake of their daughter has already grown up to educate them about the consequences of oversharing her data.
Tapping into ethical debates like this can be risky, no doubt. But it can also show that you’re not blind to the dangers of the technologies others may adopt prematurely. In the case of Deutsche Telekom, that stance mirrors their long-standing messaging and tradition as a reliable network provider.
15. Deutsche Bahn: “No Need To Fly”
Okay, this might be getting a bit too Deutsch for you, but I promise it’s worth it. If you’ve ever used Deutsche Bahn, you know they’re not exactly known for quirky brand messaging or technological innovation. It’s also important to keep in mind that they work in a different environment. 81% of Germans demand clear labeling of AI-generated content.
So, if you’re the nation’s biggest railway provider, what do you do? You use AI without using it. DB’s “No Need To Fly” campaign made huge waves, showing AI matches of far-flung travel destinations with local rail destinations.
And no, this is not just fancy image generation. Ogilvy Germany created a dedicated algorithm that identified iconic locations in Germany resembling international ones to juxtapose them. A simple message? Maybe, but paired with a brilliant AI use case.
The Tidy Roundup: How To Use AI Tools Without Shipping “Generic Optimization”
So, where does all of this lead you and your company’s AI strategy?
First, remember that the best work ties AI to already strong positioning. Dove or BMW didn’t need to come up with an entirely new AI stance; they had to think of the most plausible one matching their existing brand values.
Second, human-in-the-loop and strong data management beat “hands-free” experiments. JPMorgan and Virgin may have gotten reliable results, but only because they’ve spent time on voice consistency and accuracy pre-launch.
Third, choose the right role for AI, based on technological capabilities, compliance needs and local culture. Overall, AI skepticism among Germans didn’t stop Deutsche Bahn from adopting it; it just meant they had to use it differently.
Your setup, from the right prompt to data management, will shape your entire AI stance. If you make conscious decisions now, it makes for less work down the road. Don’t miss out because it seems too risky. Find the niche application mirroring your brand.
