![Toys "R" Us AI Commercial Toys R Us AI Commercial image example.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/050/332/toysrus_ai.jpg)
Toys "R" Us AI Commercial
Part of a series on Sora (OpenAI). [View Related Entries]
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About
The Toys "R" Us AI Commercial refers to an AI-generated short film made by the toy store company Toys "R" Us with the AI video system Sora from OpenAI. The film shows a boy falling asleep in a retro bike shop where a world of toys appears in his dream. It was supposed to represent the origin of the Toys "R" Us brand. The video went viral on Twitter / X in June 2024. Discourse ensued thereafter concerning the commercial's aesthetics, morals and ramifications.
Origin
On June 25th, 2024, Toys "R" Us posted a video to the brand's Instagram[1] account that was described as, "A short film that just premiered during @cannes_lions film festival in France… It is the first brand film ever created using OpenAI Sora." The video gained over 1,000 likes in a day.
The company also shared a blog post about the film on its website,[2] sharing a further description of the film:
We are thrilled to partner with Native Foreign to push the boundaries of Sora, a groundbreaking new technology from OpenAI that's gaining global attention. Sora can create up to one-minute-long videos featuring realistic scenes and multiple characters, all generated from text instruction. Imagine the excitement of creating a young Charles Lazarus, the founder of Toys“R”Us, and envisioning his dreams for our iconic brand and beloved mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe in the early 1930s.
On June 25th, X[3] user @Mr_AllenT tweeted the short film, calling it, "the first OpenAI SORA generated brand commercial," gaining over 3.9 million views and 7,100 likes in a day (shown below).
Toys "R" Us has released the first OpenAI SORA generated brand commercial
The use of generative AI in commercial work is here. pic.twitter.com/rfbHC3NQRD— Allen T. (@Mr_AllenT) June 25, 2024
Spread
The abovementioned tweet inspired viral reactions on X going into late June 2024. For instance, on June 25th, 2024, X[4] user @syndrowm criticized the commercial in a reply, sharing four screencaps captioned, "Just like a weird dream it is a different person each time you see them," gaining over 350 likes in a day (shown below, left).
Others shared moral critiques, like X[5] user @zachsilberberg on June 25th, who said in a quote, "there's something so cynical about creating an ad about the limitless imagination of a child and then rendering it with soulless AI slop," receiving over 49,000 likes in a day (shown below, right).
![Toys R Us AI commercial Twitter discourse syndrowm @syndrowm Just like a weird dream it is a different person each time you see them ☐ 12:56 PM ⚫ Jun 25, 2024 111K Views](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/847/386/a4e.png)
![Toys R Us AI commercial criticism zach silberberg @zachsilberberg there's something so cynical about creating an ad about the limitless imagination of a child and then rendering it with soulless Al slop Allen T. @Mr_AllenT ⚫ 22h Toys "R" Us has released the first OpenAI SORA generated brand commercial The use of generative Al in commercial work is here. 0:47 US lios • 3:26 PM ⚫ Jun 25, 2024 696.5K Views VFX + 'i](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/847/390/463.png)
Others joked about Toys "R" Us' then-recent bankruptcy filing, like X[6] user @yardleyart on June 25th, 2024, who wrote, "Fuck toys r us. Go back out of business," gaining over 4,000 likes in a day (shown below).
![F--- toys r us. Go back out of business Tracy Yardley! (commissions closed) @yardleyart F--- toys r us. Go back out of business Allen T. @Mr_AllenT 23h • Toys "R" Us has released the first OpenAI SORA generated brand commercial The use of generative Al in commercial work is here. 0:32 US lios TOYsHus • • 5:26 PM Jun 25, 2024 72.9K Views ...](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/847/400/73a.png)
Similar discourse ensued on other social platforms. For instance, on June 25th, TikToker [7] @realjamesarcher posted a video about the AI film, gaining over 56,500 plays and 2,300 likes in a day (shown below).
@realjamesarcher This is Toys R Us's new video ad, generated entirely by Sora AI. What do you think? #sora #ai #ad #advertising #marketing #creative ♬ original sound – James Archer
Various Examples
![Toys R Us AI commercial criticism D, Hunter of the Dead Evergreen tweet @dekubrush 16h ... BAFTA Del Walker @TheCartelDel You know what I realized about Ai images in your marketing? It sends out the message that you've got no budget. It's the digital equivalent of wearing an obviously fake Chanel bag. Your whole brand immediately appears feeble and impoverished Allen T. 1:06 @Mr_AllenT⚫ 22h Toys "R" Us has released the first OpenAI SORA generated brand commercial The use of generative Al in commercial work is here.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/847/399/f98.png)
![Toys R Us AI commercial criticism Samuel Deats @SamuelDeats So instead of hiring a real child actor to promote their kids toy store they made a freaky fake Al generated child I assume made from the scraped photos and performances of countless children and actors. Not great, @ToysRUs! Allen T. @Mr_AllenT 22h Toys "R" Us has released the first OpenAI SORA generated brand commercial The use of generative Al in commercial work is here. 0:36 US lios 7:34 PM ⚫ Jun 25, 2024 33.3K Views VFX + Hili](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/847/396/d5b.png)
![Toys R Us AI commercial criticism Mike Drucker @MikeDrucker Love this commercial is like, "Toys R Us started with the dream of a little boy who wanted to share his imagination with the world. And to show how, we fired our artists and dried Lake Superior using a server farm to generate what that would look like in Stephen King's nightmares * Allen T. @Mr_AllenT⚫ 22h Toys "R" Us has released the first OpenAI SORA generated brand commercial The use of generative Al in commercial work is here. 0:47 lios 9:23 PM Jun 25, 2024 286.8K Views • VFX+ lili](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/847/394/6cb.png)
![Toys R Us AI commercial criticism Lattice @LatticeParable have an increasing feeling of dread that in all respects there's just going to be nothing good or of value left in the future, everything's got to be reduced down to its cheapest most hollowed out form Allen T. @Mr_AllenT. 22h Toys "R" Us has released the first OpenAI SORA generated brand commercial The use of generative Al in commercial work is here. 0:59 ios 4:44 PM ⚫ Jun 25, 2024 30K Views O VFX + IIIIII](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/847/392/ac2.png)
Search Interest
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Top Comments
hipnox
Jun 26, 2024 at 11:35AM EDT
Turd Sandwich
Jun 26, 2024 at 02:26PM EDT