The best AI commercials of 2026, and what each one got right

Coca-Cola, the holiday campaign

An AI-assisted remake of a world people already know: the trucks, the snow, the lights. The decision was to reproduce a memory rather than invent a scene, which turned the technology into a production method instead of the subject.

Toys R Us, the origin film

A founder story made largely with a generative model and shown at Cannes Lions. The decision was to tell a story with a beginning and an end. Whatever one thinks of the frames, it is a film, not a demo.

Kalshi, the NBA Finals spot

A surreal, fast, deliberately rough ad made in days for a live sports slot at a fraction of a broadcast budget. The decision was to match the tone to the method: it looks generated, on purpose, and that is the joke.

Volvo, localised spots

The same commercial adapted for several markets from one production. The decision was to treat generation as a localisation tool, which is where much of the money in AI commercials actually is.

Fresh Forest, the tavern

Two candlelit men in a medieval tavern selling a Romanian detergent, 2.8 million views on Facebook paid. The decision was to make the scent the story and put the product second, on a budget that could not have hired a crew. It is ours, so discount the praise; the number is the number.

What they share

Every one of them was a decision first and a generation second. That is the whole craft, and it is why we board every frame before anything is generated.