CRED’s bizarre AI-driven ad stars Gautam Gambhir in satirical twist

As artificial intelligence becomes a bigger part of advertising, brands are experimenting with AI-generated visuals and scripts to replace or compliment traditional creative agency work. The trend has sparked both curiosity and concern. While AI offers speed and scale, it often raises questions about originality, nuance, and the role of human creativity in storytelling.

CRED’s latest advertisement featuring former India cricketer and current national team coach Gautam Gambhir takes a sharp dig at the use of artificial intelligence in advertising. The film opens with an AI-generated video of Gambhir, shown holding an ice cream with a face with absurd tongue on the ice cream's top. In the AI video, he is seen urging viewers to pay their credit card bills on CRED during the match to win free ice creams from Swiggy Instamart. What starts as a light moment quickly descends into the bizarre; the AI-crafted Gambhir appears to eat a human tongue from an ice cream cone before transforming into a cone himself. The ad ends by announcing its partnership with the quick commerce platform Swiggy Instamart, which offers free ice cream on consumers' CRED transactions.

The scene then shifts back to reality. Gambhir, seated before the laptop playing the ad, smashes it with his cricket bat when asked for his opinion, signalling a rejection of what he has just witnessed.

The commercial reflects a wider reality in the marketing industry, where brands are increasingly turning to AI-generated content in place of conventional creative agency work. By placing an AI-crafted absurdity at its centre and then having the real Gambhir reject it outright, the film highlights both the fascination and discomfort that surround AI’s growing presence in advertising.

The execution draws on a style CRED has used before. Much like the earlier campaign where Rahul Dravid’s unexpected outburst in traffic left a lasting impression, the Gambhir spot leans on absurdity to ensure memorability. But it also surfaces a commentary on the risks of over-reliance on AI in creative work, questioning whether AI-generated advertising can truly substitute for human insight and storytelling.