The tech world, and by extension, the marketing world, has been awash in AI-generated everything. Deepfakes, synthetic voices, algorithmically-tweaked visuals – it’s become the expected, the default. So when Skittles dropped its latest campaign for its “uncomfortably soft” gummies, the expectation was a digital fever dream, a kaleidoscope of AI-powered surrealism that would make Salvador Dalí look like a minimalist.
Instead? They went… real. Sort of. TBWA\Chiat\Day, the agency behind this sugary trip, apparently decided to ditch the pixels and shoot this one the old-fashioned way. No CGI, no AI. Just… people interacting with these very squishy gummies in ways that are, frankly, still deeply unsettling. This is a brand that built its identity on “Taste the Rainbow,” a concept ripe for digital augmentation. To see them deliberately step back feels less like innovation and more like… a statement. Or maybe just a really, really strange trip.
Who’s Really Tasting This Rainbow?
Look, I’ve been covering this circus for two decades. I’ve seen brands chase every shiny new object, from interactive banner ads that crashed browsers to VR experiences that made people dizzy. The current infatuation with AI is just the latest iteration of the same old song. Companies are desperate to appear ‘cutting-edge,’ to grab headlines, to get those little clicks and shares that signal relevance.
So, what’s the play here for Skittles? The gummies are being pitched as “uncomfortably soft.” That’s the hook. And the visuals? They’re certainly leaning into the discomfort. We’ve got people squeezing them, getting them stuck in their hair, generally having a weirdly tactile, slightly disturbing experience. It’s a bold choice, especially when the easiest, most predictable route would have been an AI-generated wonderland of impossible shapes and impossible flavors.
“This is about the tactile experience of the gummy, something that’s hard to replicate with CGI,” said a spokesperson. “We wanted to lean into the ‘uncomfortably soft’ attribute in a way that felt grounded, even if surreal.”
Is that the whole story? Probably not. The real question, as always, is who is actually making money here? Beyond the agency’s billable hours, beyond the media buy, the actual dollars and cents of this… well, that’s harder to trace. Are these “uncomfortably soft” gummies selling like hotcakes because of the campaign, or are they selling despite it? My money’s on the latter, fueled by brand recognition and the sheer weirdness of it all.
Is Analog the New Digital?
This pivot away from the expected AI churn is… curious. Is it a commentary on the soullessness of AI-generated content? A meta-commentary on the exhaustion with the digital sheen? Or is it simply that they realized actual, tangible weirdness sells better than digital fakery?
Perhaps there’s a strategic genius at play here that I’m missing. Maybe the goal is to cut through the AI noise by being deliberately analog. In a world drowning in synthetic content, a little bit of actual, unadulterated strangeness might be the ultimate differentiator. It’s a gamble, sure. But then again, Skittles has always been about taking risks, even if those risks involve people wrestling with confectionery.
It makes you wonder if other brands will follow suit. Will we see a wave of “un-enhanced” advertising, a return to lo-fi charm that feels more authentic? Or is this just a one-off experiment, a brief flirtation with the analog before the AI inevitably takes over again?
For now, Skittles is staying surreal, but with a decidedly less synthetic twist. It’s a reminder that sometimes, the most interesting stories aren’t about the tech itself, but about the choices brands make in the face of it. And sometimes, those choices are just plain… weird. Which, for Skittles, is probably the point.
