As the use of AI to generate advertising grows, so does the controversy surrounding it.
But consumers aren’t rejecting AI outright; they’re rejecting work that feels automated, inauthentic or unclear about what’s real. Sixty percent consider AI in brand marketing a turnoff, and 69% trust AI-generated content less than human-generated content.
The contrast is becoming increasingly visible: While some AI-forward campaigns have drawn criticism for feeling “cheap” or creatively hollow, content that showcases tangible craft, human effort, and real-world creation continues to earn praise and engagement.
At this year’s Cannes Lions, Dove won the Creative Strategy Grand Prix for Real Beauty, an iconic campaign demonstrating that authentic human beauty and real stories resonate more deeply than AI-generated perfection. Created by Ogilvy, a sister agency of The Food Group, the campaign captures the cultural impact of genuine human truth in an era of synthetic content.
Shift Happens: From AI as Novelty to Authenticity as Necessity
This shift matters because AI has moved from novelty to default creative tool. Speed, scale and efficiency are no longer differentiators; taste, restraint and trust are. As AI-generated content proliferates, audiences are becoming more sensitive to generic visuals, template storytelling and creative work that lacks a clear point of view. They’re demanding greater proof of craft, intention and authenticity.
“AI increases speed and volume, but not necessarily value,” said Megan Keleshian, vice president of digital marketing at The Food Group. “Scale is not the same as quality, and if you’re sacrificing quality for scale, that’s a huge miss.”
Keleshian emphasizes that creative credibility is required to counter the tide of AI slop. “Consumers are understandably skeptical, so brands need to be more credible and more intentional with their creative output.”
While 41% of consumers already use generative AI to research major purchases, 77% are more comfortable with AI-assisted experiences when human support remains available, underscoring a need for balance.
The lesson is clear: Consumers embrace AI when it improves relevance, personalization and convenience, but reject it when it feels generic, deceptive or disconnected from human creativity. The brands winning today are using AI to enhance execution behind the scenes while keeping human judgment, creative intent and authentic storytelling front and center.
Merry Miss-mas: McDonald’s Netherlands’ AI Holiday Misstep
The reaction last year to McDonald's Netherlands' AI-generated holiday campaign, The Most Terrible Time of the Year, became an important learning moment for marketers. While consumers didn't reject AI outright, many recoiled from the campaign's eerie, uncanny visuals and deliberately negative take on the holiday season. The backlash quickly forced McDonald’s Netherlands to remove the video and scrap the campaign altogether. In a category built on seasonal sentiment and emotional connection, the campaign's synthetic feel and subversive message became the story.
The takeaway: When AI appears to disrupt long-held expectations, it can trigger reactions that feel less like criticism of technology and more like disappointment in the brand itself.
The Apple of AI: Apple and VML Display The Human Touch
By contrast, Apple’s widely shared logo creation video was praised because it celebrated physical craft rather than technological efficiency. Viewers responded to the tangible process, visible effort and hands-on creativity behind the work. The making of the logo became the idea, creating a sense of earned delight that felt authentic, impressive and highly shareable.
This year, “Beat Cancer Off” by VML New York, another WPP agency, for F*ck Cancer won a Gold Lion in Health & Wellness at Cannes. The campaign took a surprising scientific finding and translated it into a highly human, culturally resonant creative idea through humor, music, illustration, animation and behavior change. (See the case study.)
As these examples show, the differentiator is no longer access to AI but evidence of human judgment, creative intent and craftsmanship. Consumers increasingly reward brands that show the work behind the work and use AI to enhance creativity rather than replace the effort, care and authenticity that build trust.
Fast, Not Fake: AI as Accelerator Instead of Fabricator
The approaches resonating most with consumers today use AI as an invisible accelerator rather than the creative centerpiece. Brands are successfully applying AI for ideation, iteration, localization and testing while preserving human tone, craft and storytelling in the final work.
Strong-performing campaigns like Google Creative Lab’s “Project Genie” often combine real-world production with selective AI support. The winner of the AI Craft Grand Prix in Digital Craft at Cannes Lions 2026, “Project Genie” demonstrated how AI can unlock new creative possibilities, while human insight, direction and storytelling remain essential to creating meaningful experiences.
Transparency is important in AI adoption. Behind-the-scenes content, creator spotlights and clear explanations of the process serve as proof of craft rather than defensive disclosures. “GenAI is just as much about trust as it is about technology,” points out Nicole Libby, digital strategist at The Food Group. “Consumers are big on distinguishing between what’s real and what’s AI. Brands need to be more credible and more transparent about their use of the technology.”
Libby points out that if audiences feel misled about how content was created, skepticism can shift from the work itself to the brand, turning a creative decision into a trust issue.
Practical Checklist: Using AI Without Triggering Backlash
- Start with a strong idea and use AI to enhance the concept, not replace it.
- Match the production approach to the moment (e.g., heritage and emotionally significant campaigns often require a stronger human touch).
- Build in signals of authenticity through tangible details, human performance and real-world imperfections.
- Conduct rigorous quality control to catch uncanny issues in hands, typography, motion, reflections and other visual details.
- Establish your disclosure strategy early, using behind-the-scenes content, credits and creator stories to add context and build trust.
- Stress-test creative with diverse internal reviewers to identify unintended reactions before launch.
The future of creativity isn’t anti-AI; it’s pro-intent. As AI becomes increasingly accessible, technology alone will no longer create competitive advantage. What will matter is how thoughtfully brands apply these tools in service of stronger ideas, deeper storytelling and more meaningful human connections.
In 2026 and beyond, the brands that stand out with both consumers and award juries will be those that combine the speed and scale of AI with unmistakable human judgment, craft and point of view. As Megan put it: “The winners won’t be the brands using the most AI; they’ll be the ones using it with the most intention.”
1 Gartner, Gartner Marketing Survey Finds 50% of Consumers Prefer Brands That Avoid Using GenAI in Consumer-Facing Content, March 2026
2 Gartner, Gartner Survey Finds 49% of U.S. Consumers Say GenAI Has Made Content Quality Worse, June 2026
3 Pandya, Vivek, How Creative Pros Are Using Generative AI to Keep Up with Unprecedented Content Demands, Adobe Blog, October 23, 2025