Toys ‘R’ Us is pioneering the use of AI for advertising with their new commercial created using Sora, OpenAI’s text-to-video tool. The revived toy retailer premiered the 66-second spot at Cannes Lions, garnering mixed reviews.
Sora allows for realistic video generation from text, and Toys ‘R’ Us partnered with creative agency Native Foreign to craft their commercial using this technology. At only 66 seconds, it tells the origin story of the iconic brand and mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe.
Kim Miller Olko, Toys ‘R’ Us global CMO, said founder Charles Lazarus had a visionary concept ahead of his time. The brand aims to honor his legacy and connect emotionally with consumers through innovation. Partnering with Native Foreign to push Sora’s boundaries was an exciting way to achieve this.
On their Studios page, Toys ‘R’ Us expressed excitement over Sora’s ability to generate minute-long videos from text featuring multiple characters and scenes. They envisioned bringing to life young Charles Lazarus’ 1930s dreams for the brand and Geoffrey.
The commercial takes viewers into the “uncanny valley” by recounting Lazarus’ upbringing as the son of a bicycle shop owner. It was here that he had a vision to change toy stores forever. The narration kicks off as a 1950s small town bicycle shop comes into frame.
From here, the AI-generated video depicts Lazarus’ imagined dreams for creating a toy store experience like no other. It shows his concept for aisles of towering toy selections and the introduction of their friendly giraffe mascot, Geoffrey. The commercial strives to capture feelings of nostalgia and magic integral to the Toys ‘R’ Us brand.
While garnering mixed reviews, the commercial represents Toys ‘R’ Us pushing boundaries as one of the first major brands to utilize Sora’s human-like video generation from text. It delivers their founder’s origin story in a novel way through cutting-edge AI technology.
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