Dive Brief:
- Blue Diamond’s Almond Breeze brand has enlisted the Jonas Brothers for a campaign that takes shots at wonky artificial intelligence-generated advertising, according to a press release.
- The musical sibling trio was directly involved in developing new content tied to the effort. In the videos, a pair of overzealous agents pitch the group on misguided AI-generated ideas, such as showing them drinking almond milk in space, before the Jonas Brothers recommend a more traditional endorsement model.
- Almond Breeze is promoting both longer-form videos and six- and 15-second cutdowns of the humorous material. The grower-owned brand joins other marketers that have made AI scrutiny a part of their consumer-facing messaging.
Dive Insight:
Almond Breeze’s partnership with the Jonas Brothers takes a jab at generative AI slop to shore up the almond milk brand’s positioning around authenticity and real consumer connection. The campaign follows backlash to some AI-generated ads, as well as other marketing efforts that have used AI tools to poke fun at the technology’s shortcomings.
In the Almond Breeze content, the Jonas Brothers meet with agents for a campaign shoot and are pitched on “doing more work with less work.” The agents then present a series of low-quality AI-generated videos, including the Jonas Brothers floating through space, walking around shirtless in cologne-inspired ads and acting as milkmen while riding a giant, horse-like almond. The band politely shoots down those ideas before suggesting they just say, “Almond Breeze: It’s really good,” which ends up being the tagline. Messaging also highlights Almond Breeze product qualities like zero sugar, low calories and calcium.
Agency McKinney is behind the effort while Anthony Mandler led creative direction for the commercials. In the release, Almond Breeze stated the Jonas Brothers were involved in each step of the creative development. The launch of the campaign arrives as the band recently concluded a 20th anniversary-themed tour.
Marketers continue to try and push the envelope on AI-generated creative even as consumers have expressed mixed feelings toward the trend. McDonald’s in the Netherlands recently pulled an AI-generated holiday video offline following intense outcry. Almond Breeze’s approach underscores how some brands see value in taking a stance that is more skeptical of the technology while acknowledging it is becoming a bigger part of the marketing business.
