If nothing else, the first awards show honoring the best AI-generated commercials shows AI ad work is here to stay as it moves from novelty to an everyday tool in the advertising industry. The Generated Awards, held in a chic Chelsea space in New York City on May 27, 2026, were like a highlight reel of AI commercials with an impressive list of major corporate advertisers seemingly endorsing the technology. Whether AI-generated commercials are as cool as the AI and advertising industries think they are remains to be seen, especially among the youthful audience these AI ads most often target.
AI-generated commercial video has moved from experiment to production workflow, with brands spending real budgets on AI-native campaigns, say the Generated Awards organizers. That claim was backed up at the Generated Awards by the number of well-known brands making use of AI-generated commercials. These included high-recognition brands like Gucci, Lindor, Nescafe, Gorilla Glue, Spotify, and Optimum as well as lesser-known brands on tight budgets looking to make a name for themselves. The grand prize for commercial of the year went to Runway Creative and J. Felipe Orozco for a very clever commercial called “The Watch” wherein its AI attributes were obvious while still conveying a sense of humanity all the same.
In addition, there were eight other categories focused on direction, audio, storytelling, visual effects and best platform. Perhaps the most entertaining awards were the “Fictional Ad of the Year” for non-existent companies and the “Spec Ad of the Year” for unsolicited commercials meant to show off a creator’s skills. The Generated Awards are platform agnostic but if the nominees share a favorite, it would seem to be YouTube and Instagram. The best AI-generated commercial entries were those that wore AI on their sleeves, often with tongue firmly planted in cheek. (See generatedawards.com for more information on entries.)
“We’re not celebrating AI,” said Tanya Porquez, CEO of Generated Group. “We’re celebrating the humans who use it.”
The Generated Awards organizers see AI video leading to a major restructuring of the commercial creative stack, affecting agencies, production companies, creators and marketing teams. Simply put, AI-generated commercials automate core creative tasks from writing scripts and editing video to voice narration and designing visuals. Basically, the creative end comes from how well a “creator” manipulates text prompts to create the desired result. There are easy-to-use software packages that enhance the process. These AI tools, along with video quality, are evolving very quickly along a 30- to 60-day cycle.
From an agency and client perspective, AI-generated commercials offer several advantages. Principal among them are financial as AI-generated commercials eliminate high production costs that might otherwise run into six figures. For example, an AI-generated Super Bowl commercial for the betting site Kalshi involving a trippy combination of chihuahuas, cowboys and aliens reportedly cost just $2,000 and was made in three days using Google Veo. AI tools like Runway, Google Veo, OpenAI’s Sora and Luma AI also offer speed, allowing agencies to develop commercials in a matter of hours rather than weeks. That same speed also allows ad agencies to experiment with various iterations of a concept and also tailor variants for specific markets.
But while industry may love AI-generated commercials, the viewing audience is less enamored, it appears, especially among the younger Gen Z and Millennial groups who are often viewing AI in a negative light. According to Meltwater data analysts, nearly half the viewers of the AI-generated ads aired during the Super Bowl responded negatively and thought AI-generated commercials were a shortcut indicative of declining creativity. Roughly a third said they trusted a brand less if they knew its commercial was AI-generated.
Similarly, in a YouGov survey of Australians, nearly half said they would trust a brand less if it used AI-generated commercials. The YouGov findings suggested that while people were aware of more AI-generated commercials, they still put a lot of emphasis on authenticity, transparency and human creativity. Other AI-generated material using deceased celebrities has engendered a “creepy” reaction as has the “uncanny valley” effect wherein digital actors fall short of human impersonation.
Social media has called other AI-generated commercials “soulless” and “dystopian,” notes Mashed. There are also questions about the cultural impact and staying power of digital actors compared to human pitchmen like George Foreman who famously became better known for his hamburger grills than his heavyweight boxing career, for example.
For the organizers of the Generated Awards, the question is what does excellence look like when human creativity leads and AI executes. We’re all going to see the answer. That makes us all judges.
