A new advertising trend has emerged—and it suggests that brands have finally realized how much artificial intelligence-made commericals (such as the infamous McDonald’s Netherlands holiday spot) annoy the general public.

Instead of using AI to create ads, companies are now making it the butt of the joke. Almond Breeze and Equinox are the latest to so do—both brands launched campaigns that ridicule the technology earlier this week.

The Blue Diamond-owned almond milk brand tapped the Jonas Brothers to star in its ads. The campaign takes a playful jab at AI-generated ads by showing two agents approach Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas with a proposition to “do even more work with less work” for their upcoming partnership with Almond Breeze. They then show the musicians several cheesy, sloppily-made ads created with AI tools.

Those suggestions prompt Nick to say, “If we’re going to do a partnership with Almond Breeze, we’ll just tell people it’s really good.” The tagline blows the agents away.

Equinox took a different approach. The New York City-based health club’s campaign features shocking AI-generated images—including a three-breasted woman and a Pope deepfake—alongside pictures of real people flexing their muscles plus text that reads, “Question everything but yourself.”

Krish Menon, founder of Angry Gods, which partnered with Equinox to create this campaign, told The Hollywood Reporter the ads speak to “the idea of culture losing its grip on what’s real, and fitness as one of the last places of truth.”

“You can fake looking fit but not being fit,” he said. “You can do a lot in photos, but you won’t feel better.”

The first wave of this advertising trend emerged last year. Polaroid and Heineken both launched billboard-centric campaigns that highlighted the merits of their products compared to those of AI. Apparel brand Arie also pledged not to use AI models after competitors like J. Crew came under fire for doing so.

With big names like Almond Joy and Equinox putting considerable capital into anti-AI slop campaigns, it seems likely that this trend will continue to grow in 2026.

Source: Inc

https://www.inc.com/annabel-burba/the-ai-ad-backlash-is-here-and-big-brands-are-leaning-in/91285342