Everything Sucks … But It’s Not The End Of The World.

Reality is optional in a new campaign from AI video platform Pika.

Pika’s ‘provocative and controversial’ ad casts AI as an escape from a post-apocalyptic world.

The first ad from Jared Leto–backed AI video startup Pika, sells AI as an escape from reality. The visual casts AI as a serene refuge from the chaos of the real world, and includes imagery that nods to war and global unrest.

With Pika, people can transform their content into whatever their hearts desire. With ‘Pikapocalypse,’ the team wanted to show the outer edges of those possibilities. The story taps into the current moment and our collective mindset in a renegade and provocative way. Pika may not be able to solve society’s problems, but they can help you have a little fun and create a reality that reflects your wildest desires.

Some major TV networks didn't want to run Pika's ad at first.

The spot opens in an innocuous home setting with a girl casually using Pika’s AI tools to zhuzh up her selfies and animating real-life objects. The scene is light and harmless enough until the camera reveals a scorched, post-apocalyptic wasteland outside her window. We see a tilted American flag, toppled power lines, fires smoldering, and the unmistakable outline of a carcass.

By the end of the ad, the girl is fully absorbed in her phone, her frozen cat sitting next to her as a fireball hurtles toward earth. Just before impact, the scene flips - the flaming orb morphs into a cartoonish animation, courtesy of Pika.

AI-driven ads have often been met with backlash, with people calling out brands for tone-deaf messaging and stoking fears around AI’s encroachment on human creativity. Pika’s positioning of AI as a way to drown out the noise of a crumbling world is undeniably bold.

The launch of the Pikapocalypse campaign asserts Pika’s positioning as a leader in social-first AI video creation. Your content, and the world you present, will never be the same.