When My Daughter Exposed the Truth About Authenticity
Thoughts from Coca-Cola Christmas ad controversy: What makes your small business look real.
This morning, I was driving my daughter to school. We got talking about AI, as you do these days. Out of nowhere, she brought up that Coca-Cola commercial. You know the one. The AI-generated Christmas ad that got everyone talking.
"How come a big company like Coca-Cola, with their big budget, had to go for an AI video on TV?"
Her words surprised me a lot. A train of thoughts started in my mind. Here was a kid, seeing right through something that billion-dollar marketing teams had missed.
I browsed the web looking for opinions about that ad. The first link I got was "Everyone hates Coca Cola AI Christmas Ad"! The most frequent words used by audience were bland, soulless, unnatural.
Those words stuck with me. Bland Soulless. Unnatural.
So, what can we learn from this backlash? Here are a few considerations of mine.
AI can generate a thousand images in minutes. Beautiful ones, even. But here's what it can't do. It can't show your hands shaping clay at 6 AM. It can't capture the flour dust in the air of your bakery. It can't feel the pride you have when you finish a custom order.
Your business is special because of you. Because of the choices you make. Because of the care you put into every detail. Your business will grow faster when you show up as yourself. Just you, doing your thing.
People buy from brands they trust. They want to see what happens behind the counter. They want to know the person who pours their coffee, bakes their bread, or makes their jewellery. They want the story, not just the product.
Good product photos show what matters to you. They show the texture, the light, the realness of what you make. When you use authentic images, something shifts. Visitors feel it. They see you. They trust you. And trust turns browsers into buyers. It turns first-time customers into people who come back again and again.
Your story matters. Your hands matter. The way you do things matters.
Let's work together to make your brand stand out by being exactly what it is. Real.
Mauri