How to Recreate Super Bowl AI Ads: The Tools, The Process, and What Actually Worked

TL;DR

• Super Bowl LX featured 15 AI-themed ads out of 66 total. Svedka's "Shake Your Bots Off" was the first mostly AI-generated Super Bowl commercial, built by Silverside AI using Kling, Runway, Luma AI, and Leonardo AI.
• The core AI ad toolkit in 2026 includes Kling 2.6 for video, Runway Gen-4.5 for motion, ElevenLabs for voice synthesis, and Midjourney for concept art and stills.
• Most major brands (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Amazon) used human production teams for their ads. AI-generated creative still struggles with viewer reception, with Svedka scoring in the bottom 3% for likeability.
• You don't need a Super Bowl budget to use these tools. A 30-second AI video ad can be produced for $500 to $5,000 using the same platforms, though working with a marketing agency cuts the learning curve significantly.
• The biggest lesson from Super Bowl AI ads: the technology is ready, but creative direction still makes or breaks the spot. Agencies that combine AI fluency with storytelling experience deliver the best results.

What AI Tools Did Super Bowl Advertisers Actually Use?

The answer depends entirely on which ad you're talking about. Most Super Bowl AI ads weren't actually made with AI. They were about AI. That distinction matters. OpenAI's Super Bowl LIX spot was animated entirely by human artists. Anthropic's Super Bowl LX campaign used real actors on real sets. Google's Gemini ads were traditional production with AI product demos embedded in the storyline. The one exception that generated the most industry conversation was Svedka, which The Hollywood Reporter called "the first mainly AI-generated Super Bowl ad."

Svedka partnered with Silverside AI (a joint venture between Pereira O'Dell and Serviceplan Group) to produce "Shake Your Bots Off." The production pipeline used four primary AI tools: Kling for realistic human motion and body movement, Runway for video generation, Luma AI for additional video rendering, and Leonardo AI for image generation. Silverside's proprietary tool, Director Magic, stitched these together by auto-generating image prompts from the script. The whole process took four months.

Here's what's worth noting: even the "AI-generated" ad wasn't fully autonomous. Humans wrote the storyline. A TikTok dance creator choreographed the movement. Art directors guided every frame. The AI was treated as an animation tool, not a creative partner. Svedka's CMO said it plainly: "Every single piece of the ad has been hand-held and art-directed."

Breaking Down the Biggest Super Bowl AI Ads

Svedka: "Shake Your Bots Off"

Svedka resurrected its iconic Fembot mascot from 2005, paired her with a new male "BroBot," and set them dancing to Rick James' "Super Freak" in a nightclub. The brand's first-ever Super Bowl ad was also the most controversial AI creative of the night. According to Adweek, Silverside AI spent four months training the AI to mimic facial expressions and body movements. Choreography came from a TikTok open call won by 23-year-old Jessica Rizzardi from Nashville.

The reception was brutal. iSpot placed the ad's likeability in the bottom 3% of Super Bowl ads over the past five years. Purchase intent scored 24% below Super Bowl norms. Viewers' most common reaction was, according to multiple surveys, some variation of confusion or rejection. The production method became the story, not the brand message.

Tools used: Kling (human motion), Runway (video generation), Luma AI (video rendering), Leonardo AI (image generation), Director Magic (prompt pipeline). Budget: estimated $7M+ for the media buy alone.

Anthropic: "A Time and a Place"

Anthropic took the opposite approach to Svedka. No AI generation. Real actors. Real sets in Los Angeles. A satirical concept: Claude will remain ad-free while competitors shove sponsored content into their AI responses. The campaign, created by agency Mother and directed by Jeff Low, featured spots with headlines like "Deception," "Betrayal," and "Violation." One showed a man asking a chatbot for advice on talking to his mom, only for the bot to pivot into a pitch for a cougar-dating site. Set to Dr. Dre's "What's the Difference." CNBC reported that OpenAI's Sam Altman publicly criticized the campaign, sparking a multi-day public feud covered by major outlets.

Tools used: None for production. Traditional filmmaking with real actors, sets, and post-production. The ad was about AI, not made by AI.

OpenAI: Two Years, Two Approaches

OpenAI's 2025 Super Bowl ad, "The Intelligence Age," traced humanity's greatest inventions from fire to ChatGPT using animated black and white dots forming ships, astronauts, and milestones. TechRadar confirmed it was created entirely by humans using 2D hand animation and 3D procedural rendering. OpenAI said they prototyped ideas with Sora but didn't use any AI generation in the final cut.

Their 2026 follow-up promoted Codex, their coding agent, with a spot tracking human curiosity from classroom notebooks to modern programming. Same playbook: human production, AI product as the subject. Both ads cost roughly $14 million for the media buy.

Tools used: 2D animation, 3D procedural rendering. Sora used only for prototyping, not final production.

Google, Amazon, and the Rest of Big Tech

Google ran Gemini ads in both 2025 and 2026, showing the AI helping families visualize moves and edit photos. Traditional production, AI product demos woven into emotional storylines. The 2025 "Dream Job" spot caught backlash for showing AI writing a heartfelt letter about a father's pride in his daughter. Some viewers found it moving. Others found it dystopian. Google also had to edit out a factually incorrect claim about gouda cheese that Gemini had generated.

Amazon's Alexa+ spot with Chris Hemsworth played it for laughs. Hemsworth grows paranoid that the new AI-powered Alexa is plotting to kill him. Meta partnered with Oakley for smart glasses demos featuring Spike Lee and Marshawn Lynch. Salesforce brought back McConaughey and Harrelson for an Agentforce spot. None used AI in production.

Why Did Pepsi Deliberately Avoid AI in Its Ad?

Pepsi made a calculated move. Their Super Bowl LX spot, "The Choice," directed by Taika Waititi, featured Coca-Cola's iconic polar bear taking a blind Pepsi Challenge and choosing Pepsi Zero Sugar. Set to Queen's "I Want to Break Free." The bear was CGI, but Pepsi's marketing team went out of their way to emphasize that the ad was made by humans, under human creative direction, with zero AI generation involved.

That wasn't random. Coca-Cola had taken significant heat for its AI-generated holiday ads in late 2024, produced by the same Silverside AI team that later made Svedka's Super Bowl spot. Those Coca-Cola ads used Leonardo AI, Luma AI, Runway, and Kling to render classic holiday scenes, and the public response was overwhelmingly negative. Pepsi saw an opening: position itself as the authentic, human-crafted brand while Coke chased AI novelty.

The takeaway for marketers is important. Just because you can use AI doesn't mean you should. If your brand identity is built on authenticity, warmth, or tradition, AI-generated creative can work against you. If your audience skews toward people who distrust AI, going all-in on generative video is a risk. Pepsi's ad was one of the best-received spots of the night.

The 2026 AI Ad Toolkit: What Each Tool Does

If you want to create AI-generated video ads similar to what aired during the Super Bowl, here's what the current production stack looks like. Every tool listed below was either confirmed or strongly indicated in the Silverside AI pipeline that produced both the Coca-Cola holiday campaign and the Svedka Super Bowl spot.

Kling 2.6 (Video Generation, Human Motion) - Built by Chinese company Kuaishou. Kling generates up to 2-minute videos at 1080p/30fps with simultaneous audio-visual generation. It was specifically brought into the Coca-Cola project for more realistic human motion, which is exactly what made it central to the Svedka spot. Best for: character animation, dance sequences, product demos with human interaction. Pricing starts around $5.99/month for basic access.

Runway Gen-4.5 (Video Generation) - One of the original AI video tools and still a production workhorse. Runway excels at cinematic motion, camera movements, and style consistency across shots. Starting at $12/month for the Standard plan. Best for: establishing shots, product reveals, atmospheric sequences.

ElevenLabs (Voice Synthesis and Audio) - ElevenLabs hit $300M+ in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2025, and for good reason. Their V3 model (released February 2026) produces production-grade text-to-speech that's nearly indistinguishable from human voiceover. They also launched an Iconic Voice Marketplace with licensed celebrity voices (Michael Caine, among others). Best for: voiceovers, narration, character dialogue, multilingual ad variants.

Midjourney (Concept Art and Stills) - Still the industry standard for image generation quality. Midjourney is used heavily in pre-production for concept art, storyboards, pitch decks, and style frames. Many agencies use Midjourney to sell the creative concept to clients before moving into video generation. Best for: mood boards, character design, environmental concepts, client presentations.

Sora 2 (OpenAI Video) - OpenAI's video model now generates synchronized sound effects, ambient audio, and dialogue that matches the visuals. Despite OpenAI's massive presence in the ad space, Sora wasn't prominently used in any confirmed Super Bowl production. It's more commonly used for rapid prototyping and social media content than broadcast-quality spots.

Luma AI and Leonardo AI - Both confirmed in the Silverside pipeline. Luma AI handles video rendering and 3D-to-video conversion. Leonardo AI focuses on image generation with strong control over style and composition. They're supporting tools rather than lead generators in most commercial workflows.

How Would You Actually Recreate a Super Bowl AI Ad?

Start with the script. Every successful AI ad, including the ones that flopped, began with a human-written concept and storyboard. The AI tools handle execution, not ideation. Here's a realistic workflow based on what Silverside AI and other production companies have publicly described:

• Step 1: Write the script and storyboard. Define your narrative arc, key scenes, and visual style. Use ChatGPT or Claude to brainstorm concepts, but the final creative direction should be human. Storyboard each shot, noting camera angles and transitions.
• Step 2: Generate style frames with Midjourney. Create the visual look for each scene. This is where you lock in color palettes, character designs, lighting mood, and environmental detail. Midjourney V6 handles photorealistic and stylized looks equally well.
• Step 3: Generate video sequences with Kling or Runway. Feed your style frames into Kling 2.6 for scenes with human motion or Runway Gen-4.5 for cinematic camera movements. Expect to generate 20-50 variations per scene to get usable footage. The Coca-Cola project produced 5,000 video segments to assemble the final product.
• Step 4: Add voice and audio with ElevenLabs. Generate voiceover narration, character dialogue, or sound effects. ElevenLabs V3 is production-grade. You can clone a voice (with permission) or use their library of preset voices. For licensed celebrity voices, use their Iconic Voice Marketplace.
• Step 5: Edit and composite in traditional software. Assemble everything in Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, or After Effects. AI generates the raw materials. Human editors create the final cut. Add transitions, color grading, timing adjustments, and music licensing.

Budget reality check: a 30-second AI video ad using this workflow runs $500 to $5,000 in tool costs, depending on the complexity and number of iterations. That doesn't include music licensing, editing time, or the creative expertise to make it all work. The Silverside team used 40+ creatives across four continents for the Coca-Cola project and rendered 10,000 frames. You don't need that scale for a social media or YouTube ad, but the principle holds: more complex = more human oversight required.

The Real Lesson: AI Ads That Worked vs. AI Ads That Didn't

Here's the uncomfortable truth: the AI ads that performed best at the Super Bowl weren't AI-generated. Anthropic's satirical campaign generated massive press coverage and industry debate. Pepsi's human-made polar bear spot was one of the highest-rated commercials of the night. Amazon's Hemsworth spot got genuine laughs. Svedka's AI-generated ad landed in the bottom 3% for likeability. Sports Illustrated reported that fans were "sick of AI ads" before the first quarter ended.

Does that mean AI video ads are a dead end? Not at all. It means the bar is different for a Super Bowl audience than for your LinkedIn campaign or YouTube pre-roll. The same AI tools that flopped on the biggest stage can produce compelling results for:

• Product demo videos where perfect human likeness isn't critical
• Social media ads where volume and testing speed matter more than polish
• Animated or stylized creative where the "AI look" is intentional, not accidental
• Rapid A/B testing of creative concepts before investing in full production
• Explainer videos and thought leadership content for B2B audiences

The pattern is clear: AI-generated video works best when the audience expects digital content, not when they're comparing it to $14 million human-produced spots during the biggest TV event of the year.

What Does It Actually Cost to Make an AI Video Ad?

The tool costs are surprisingly low. The creative expertise to use them well is not. Here's a realistic cost breakdown for producing a 30-60 second AI video ad in 2026:

• DIY with tools only: $50-200/month in subscriptions (Runway $12/mo, Kling ~$6/mo, Midjourney $10/mo, ElevenLabs $5/mo). Total for one ad: $500-2,000 in compute/generation costs. Timeline: 2-4 weeks if you know what you're doing.
• Freelancer or small studio: $3,000-15,000 per ad. Includes scripting, generation, editing, and revisions. Most freelance AI video producers charge $100-250/hour.
• Marketing agency with AI capabilities: $10,000-50,000+ per campaign. You're paying for strategy, creative direction, production, and performance optimization. The agency handles tool selection, iteration, and quality control across the full workflow.
• Super Bowl-tier AI production (Silverside AI level): $100,000-500,000+. This is enterprise-scale: 40+ creatives, custom AI training, thousands of generated assets, broadcast-quality output. The Coca-Cola project took 2 months with a global team.

Compare that to traditional video production. A typical 30-second commercial costs $50,000-500,000 without media placement. AI production can cut that by 50-80% for certain types of creative, especially animated, stylized, or product-focused spots where photorealistic human acting isn't required.

When Should You Bring In a Marketing Agency?

If you're experimenting with AI video for social content or internal presentations, the DIY route works fine. The tools have gotten accessible enough that a marketing coordinator with decent design instincts can produce usable output in a few days. But if any of these apply, you should be talking to an agency (here's our guide on how to hire a marketing agency):

• Your ad will run on paid media with real budget behind it. AI-generated quality issues get amplified on big screens and in high-exposure placements.
• You need multiple ad variants optimized for different platforms (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, connected TV). Each platform has different specs, aspect ratios, and audience expectations.
• Brand safety matters. AI generation can produce off-brand imagery, hallucinate logos, or create unintended visual associations. Agencies have QA processes for this.
• You need strategic creative direction, not just video generation. The story, the emotional arc, the brand positioning: that's where agency experience matters.

The agencies that stand out in AI-powered advertising in 2026 aren't necessarily the biggest names. They're the ones that invested early in AI production pipelines while maintaining strong creative fundamentals. Look for agencies that can show you AI-generated work in their portfolio, explain their tool stack, and demonstrate that they understand when AI production is the right call vs. when traditional methods serve the brand better. Our top marketing agencies for 2026 and best digital marketing agencies rankings include firms with proven AI creative capabilities.

If you're also working on your SEO strategy alongside creative, many full-service agencies now bundle content, video production, and search optimization into unified campaigns. Our enterprise SEO agencies guide covers firms that integrate SEO with broader marketing execution. The best results come from agencies that treat AI video and search performance as interconnected, not separate workstreams. Video content drives engagement metrics that search algorithms reward, and SEO insights inform what creative angles resonate with your target audience.

What to Do Next

The Super Bowl proved that AI video production has crossed from experimental to commercial, even if the execution isn't always there yet. The tools are accessible, the costs are dropping, and the production workflows are maturing. Whether you experiment with Kling and Runway yourself or partner with a marketing agency that already has the AI creative pipeline built, the important thing is to start testing now. The brands that figure out AI-assisted video production in 2026 will have a massive advantage when the technology inevitably catches up to the creative ambition.

• Sign up for free tiers of Kling, Runway, and Midjourney. Generate 5 test videos to understand each tool's strengths.
• Write a creative brief for one AI video ad. Start with a product demo or explainer, not a brand story. Simpler concepts produce better AI output.
• If you need broadcast-quality or high-volume creative, reach out to 2-3 marketing agencies with AI production experience. Ask to see their AI reel and their process for quality control.