The owner of Toys ‘R’ Us just used OpenAI’s Sora to animate a zombie brand

But even though OpenAI has been hyping Hollywood about the technology, one of the first entities to publicly attack is brand management company WHP Global, which currently licenses the Toys “R” Us brand to stores like Macy’s and is also exploring larger stores. Almost every Macy’s department store now has a section for branded toys, but these are usually a few inane toy aisles rather than the toy warehouses that once fueled children’s dreams.

While some headlines describe this as the first Sora-produced commercial from OpenAI, Press release It does not indicate that it will be broadcast anywhere other than Toysrus.comAlthough it was also premiered in front of an audience of advertising agency executives at the 2024 Cannes Lions festival in France last week.

The PR person is also not trying to claim that it was created entirely by artificial intelligence. Native Alien, the creative agency that produced the footage, had “about a dozen people” working on the video and applied “corrective visual effects” on top, according to director Nick Klefrov. Sora got us about 80-85% of the way there. Written on X:

Native External appears to have reused a previous shot they created with Sora as part of a Toys “R” Us project. Here is the company’s bicycle repair shop It appeared in Marchcompared to the final corrected clip:

Disclosure: Vox Media, parent company of The Verge, has a technology and content deal with OpenAI.