Advertisers get crafty in bid to stand out from AI

As AI-generated images and videos flood the advertising industry, a growing number of major brands are turning to a decidedly old-school alternative: making commercials by hand.

Companies including Apple, Prada, Levi’s, and e.l.f. Beauty have recently embraced techniques like claymation, hand-drawn animation, and stop-motion to make their ads stand out from the AI-generated crowd, per a new WSJ report.

A hands-on approach to AI

The shift comes amid growing consumer skepticism towards the benefits of AI. And for studios specializing in handcrafted ads, business is booming:

• Oregon-based Stunt Puppet Pictures says it's been booked nonstop over the past year, to the point of turning down projects.
• Apartment D Films—the studio behind e.l.f. Beauty's new holiday ad with puppets wearing real makeup—says inbound inquiries have doubled over the past two years.

But there's a catch: AI can also imitate the painstaking process of making ads by hand. One viral Instagram video claiming to show a film crew using a 40-foot wave tank to destroy a miniature version of Miami attracted nearly 900 million views before being revealed as entirely AI-generated.

Zoom out: The resurgence of handmade ads reflects a broader consumer preference for human creativity. In a recent Canva/Harris Poll survey, 78% of consumers said they'd rather see ads made by people, even if AI could produce better ones.