Svedka's Super Bowl Ad Debut Descends Into An AI Hellscape

With last year's Super Bowl audience totaling 130 million Americans, it makes sense that ad time is so expensive. For instance, AdWeek reports that some companies have paid as much as $8 million to run a 30-second spot on the Super Bowl LX broadcast. While the stakes are high for each team and their respective players, advertisers and brands also have a lot to lose if their commercials don't make the right impact. It appears that Svedka Vodka has already fumbled the ball where its Super Bowl ad is concerned thanks to two dreaded letters: AI.

According to a press release, Sazerac (parent company of Svedka Vodka) is running its very first Super Bowl commercial in 2026. This spot features the brand's long-retired robot mascot, aptly named Fembot. That mechanical ambassador is joined by BroBot, a new addition to the Svedka family. The ad has been uploaded to YouTube before the big game, and it's probably just what you expect: two impossibly shiny and attractive humanoid robots staring at you, dead-eyed, while dancing and making cocktails. The soundtrack shifts between discordant robot music and the partial strains of Rick James' ode to a liberated woman, "Super Freak." Did we mention the ghostly, AI-generated audience dancing in the periphery? 

The AI ad was created by Silverside, who also collaborated in the creation of Coca-Cola's heavily criticized holiday commercial. You already know that AI-generated food commercials are highly uncomfortable, which has a lot to do with the uncanny valley effect. In the simplest terms, the more human-like a robot or artificial being becomes, the more off-putting it is to human beings.

Despite the many misgivings and concerns people have about AI, the technology is being extensively used within the food and beverage industry. For instance, fast food has seen an uptick in AI applications, from cleaning to taking orders and virtually everything in between. That doesn't mean that the public gladly accepts these upgrades, and using AI in place of traditional creative processes appears to be particularly upsetting to consumers. It's no secret that the quality of Super Bowl alcohol commercials has waxed and waned over the years. However, this uncanny vodka commercial may be viewed as an unforgivable offense.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Sara Saunders, chief marketing officer of Svedka's parent company, defended the commercial. "Every single piece of the ad has been hand-held and art-directed—almost as though the AI is an animation tool," Saunders said of the upcoming Super Bowl ad. She also credited Svedka's "brand team" for developing the commercial, stating, "We're not in a world in which we can prompt creative ideas." While one could argue about whether making a Super Bowl ad actually rises to the same level of creativity as art, it's an artistic process to be sure: Writers, actors, illustrators, and directors, among others play a role in the typical commercial-making process. The more you rely on AI to generate a commercial, the more you eliminate these individuals and their input. That could leave you with little more than a vodka-swilling BroBot and Fembot.