See what a Gucci, KFC and Colgate ad looks like through the eyes of an AI

Nespresso, Wimbledon, Brewdog, Uber, British Airways, and Gucci are just some of the brands to receive a unique makeover from ad agency 10 Days of late. With the help of AI-driven platform Midjourney, the London-based agency has reimagined ads from the “iconic brands” to get an exciting glimpse into the potential of AI-driven creativity, in a project titled Ad Intelligence.

Each ad takes cues from signature motifs from its brand’s history – the tip of a plane wing above the clouds for British Airways; a hovering chicken piece for KFC; the painterly crema of a Nespresso pour. Though fairly standard visual signatures have been inputted into Midjourney, the AI has reshaped them into results ranging from the creative, to the more surrealist and plain bizarre.

Aiming to ideate a full spectrum of identities, 10 days recreated 24 ads for each brand. Each piece of artwork was then generated using simple, genre-based words, such as: sci-fi, noir, cinematic, surrealist, weird, fantasy, fun and kitsch. In some cases, Midjourney, currently operating on an invite-only basis using Discord, used the one-word prompt as a sort of sub-logo for the brand. In others, it interestingly interpreted the tone of genre, with varying levels of success – the sci-fi Gucci ad looks remarkably close to a sleek workable concept.

“Incredibly, the entire process took just five minutes to churn out,” the release continues, “and due to the ever-changing nature of AI produced artwork, every image is one of a kind.” This means that even when repeatedly inputting the exact same prompts, the AI will produce entirely new responses. Its speed also presents a major draw. 10 Days offers the latest work for Wimbledon in comparison with the AI’s attempt as an example: “one took an agency and artist months to produce; the other took just under 60 seconds.”

While the agency is quick to point out the kinks still to iron out in the process – the technology isn’t quite ready to produce a finished, polished ad – it asserts new developments in the space could have “game-changing” implications for the ad industry. George White, co-founder and CSO of 10 Days, concludes: “AI creativity has a huge future in store. Humans and AI are going to be working hand-in-hand – it’s how we harness it that will be exciting. Soon the possibilities will be endless.”

See the full range of AI-assisted ads at the Ad Intelligence site here.