Coca-Cola Faces Another AI Ad Blunder

Coca-Cola (KO) can’t catch a break with its integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into advertising. The soda company’s recent Classic ad campaign was met with criticism over a quote from J.G. Ballard. The campaign shows a quote from Ballard being typed on a keyboard, despite it not coming from one of his books.

The Ballard quote comes from Extreme Metaphors: Selected Interviews with J. G. Ballard 1967-2008, which was edited by Dan O’Hara and Simon Sellars and published three years after the author’s death. On top of misattributing this work to Ballard, the ad also included a typo, spelling Shanghai as “Shangai.”

O’Hara responded to the mistake in Coca-Cola’s ad campaign. He was critical of it and stated he doesn’t want viewers to get the wrong idea about Extreme Metaphors. The editor also wasn’t pleased with the typo.

Not Coca-Cola’s First Problem With AI Ads

Coca-Cola caught flak another time when it used AI to create ads during Christmas. Viewers were critical of the ads, pointing out the visual strangeness present in the AI videos. They also accused the beverage company of wanting to cut costs by not hiring creatives to make the ad.

Despite these criticisms, Coca-Cola stock has continued to chug along with a 2.88% rally today. That builds on the company’s 15.14% year-to-date increase.

Is KO Stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell?

Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for Coca-Cola is Strong Buy, based on 16 Buy and one Hold ratings over the past three months. With that comes an average KO stock price target of $79.33, representing a potential 11.48% upside for the shares.

See more KO stock analyst ratings