Video
AI commercial production: what gets generated, what stays real
Michele Caddeo ·
In AI commercial production the product comes from your real photos and footage, so the label and colours stay the ones customers know, and AI generates what would be slow or expensive to film: places, seasons, people, camera moves. In the EU, from 2 August 2026, generated scenes that look real must be disclosed. Where buyers need to see real detail, like a machine at work, real footage is cut in.
With AI your product can stand on a mountain in winter and by the sea in summer in the same commercial, and stay identical to the one on the shelf. It starts from your photos, sometimes from footage of your production lines, and AI adds what would be slow or hard to film: a landscape, a season, a journey from one city to another.
What gets generated, and what stays real?
The product is recreated from the photos and footage you have, with the label and colours your customers recognise. AI generates what surrounds it: places, people, light and camera moves, chosen for whoever has to watch the commercial.
Inside an AI commercial
Generated around the product, never instead of it
Generated
The world around
What’s slow, expensive or impossible to film.
- Sì: Places and seasons
- Sì: People and crowds
- Sì: Light and camera moves
- No: Your label and logo
Real
The product
From your photos and footage.
- Sì: Shape and colours
- Sì: Your label and logo
- Sì: A machine at work, when detail matters
- No: Generated look-alikes
Which AI commercials have I worked on?
Three, for three different screens.
Where does an AI commercial work?
One video per screen
Each screen asks for its own cut
At a trade fair stand
Loop, sound offOn-screen text tells the story instead of a voice.
On TV and YouTube
LandscapeWith voice and music.
On social and in ads
VerticalThe hook in the first seconds and large captions.
On your website
Next to the productWhere buyers watch it before they write to you.
How a commercial is built step by step, and what the airtime costs, is in the guide on how much it costs to make a commercial.
How much does AI commercial production cost?
Generating is cheap; the work is in the craft. For Kalshi’s 30-second AI ad for the 2025 NBA Finals, the director said the cost of prompting the AI was under $2,000, his fee excluded, and it took 300 to 400 generations to get 15 usable clips (NPR).
So a quote for an AI commercial counts the script, the storyboard, the generation attempts and the work to tie the scenes to your real product, instead of shoot days. Agencies quote €10,000 to €20,000 for videos like the three above.
If you want to see a first scene with your product before committing, the fixed-price prototype costs €450, no VAT added, and comes off the quote in full if we go ahead within 60 days.
Do you have to say a commercial was made with AI?
Yes, when it shows generated people, places or events that look real. In the EU, Article 50 of the AI Act applies from 2 August 2026 (European Commission). On YouTube, you must disclose realistic content that was generated or altered (YouTube Help). Using AI only to help with the script doesn’t need it. For legal advice on your case, ask a lawyer.
The disclosure rules platform by platform, and when AI is the wrong choice, are in the guide to the AI advertising agency.
What do you send to start?
Photos and videos of the product, even phone ones as long as they’re sharp, the logo, and one line on what the viewer must remember. Then where the commercial will run.
Send it in the brief. The formats and questions about video are on the video page, and all the work in the portfolio.
