Svedka's First Ever AI Super Bowl Ad Is Pure Nightmare Fuel

If you're a fan of vodka and football but are not so fond of the ever-growing presence of artificial intelligence in our daily lives, we have some good and bad news for you. Svedka is set to break new ground for this year's Super Bowl by airing a commercial that is not only a first for its parent company, Sazerac (named after the iconic Louisiana drink), but also the first vodka commercial in Super Bowl history. However, the main talking point as far as this commercial is concerned is undoubtedly its substance, or lack thereof. The ad, named "Shake Your Bots Off," will also be the first Super Bowl ad made by artificial intelligence. This resulted in a final product that was more or less what you'd expect it to be — a bit sloppy, very creepy, and overall uncanny.

The commercial follows two robots (with faces that will likely haunt your dreams) as they open a bottle of Svedka, shake up a cocktail, and start to party. The two robots dance under a disco ball in a club as the song "Super Freak" by Rick James plays in the background with the revelation near the end of the commercial being that the robots actually can't consume Svedka without it going right through them and emitting sparks from their machinery.

Suffice it to say, the commercial is a bit strange, but it's certainly a statement-maker for Svedka's Super Bowl debut. Robots drinking and partying the night away is fine in concept, but "Shake Your Bots Off" struggles to be authentically eye-catching beyond the first few seconds when the terrifying main characters are revealed. Compare this to a commercial like Pepsi's "The Choice," which features a CGI polar bear coming to terms with liking Pepsi more than Coca-Cola and which has already gone viral online for its smart, interesting narrative that's fitting for the drink's identity as a challenger brand to Coca-Cola. Unfortunately, very little about the vodka's first foray into Super Bowl commercials will have you thinking about Svedka's enduring identity as a reliable, low-price vodka that many would argue is worth giving a try.

Ultimately, the artificial intelligence used in Svedka's commercials is likely to blame for these shortcomings. It was only a matter of time before a company would attempt to make a Super Bowl commercial using artificial intelligence, but the flaws of A.I. commercials were unavoidable in this instance. While it's clear that Svedka's advertisement clearly had plenty of human input and guidance, it's important to note that the general perception of A.I. in commercials is not positive, with companies like McDonald's being forced to pull A.I. advertisements as recently as last Christmas due to fan backlash which described the commercials as inauthentic and soulless. This poor track record makes Svedka's decision to greet us with two frightening A.I. robots for its first Super Bowl appearance a questionable one, to say the least.