Cadbury 5 Star has launched a campaign, ‘Make AI Mediocre Again’, that playfully critiques the relentless pace of life fueled by our growing reliance on AI, that, in turn, leaves little room for downtime.

Conceptualised by Ogilvy, the campaign cheekily reinforces its philosophy of ‘Eat 5 Star. Do Nothing’.

Highlighting the irony of AI accelerating work to a point where humans struggle to keep up, the campaign takes a hilarious step to go on to build a server farm that’s dedicated to sabotaging AI efficiency. These servers generate thousands of authentic-looking, nonsensical webpages designed to infiltrate AI training databases. The result? Error-prone AI systems, that slow down the pace and create space for humans to sit back, relax, and do nothing.

What we think about it: The ad presents a parody of a dystopian workplace in the future when humans have to keep pace with super-efficient artificial intelligence, that leaves little scope for any kind of relaxation. The depicted solution to fuddle the AI systems in order to slow them down for humans to 'do nothing' is simplistic yet hilarious, while staying true to the brand's tagline. 

Nitin Saini, vice president, marketing, Mondelez India, shared his thoughts- “Cadbury 5 Star stands for liberating the youth from the mindless rush of life. The advent of AI has left the youth grappling with host of uncertainties around what the future holds. Would our lives become easier? Or will we get busier? 5 Star with its campaign of ‘Make AI mediocre again’ aims to lighten up the pressure in its unique humorous way by going to all lengths to protect the ethos of ‘Do Nothing’. In a world so focused on doing more, we’re encouraging everyone to see the value in stepping back and allowing for moments that bring calm.”

Sukesh Nayak, chief creative officer, Ogilvy India added "A year after the viral 'Nothing University' campaign, Cadbury 5 Star is back with yet another dig at the AI revolution, as part of the brand's long-running counter-culture campaign. AI has grown by leaps and bounds over the last year and has already started making our daily tasks easier. But Karunasagar and the Ogilvy team noticed that there's a catch to it and have used the opportunity to create a crazy solution to permanently protect our 'doing nothing' time from the AIs. Our Creative Tech team worked closely on this campaign to bring this idea to life."

Shekhar Banerjee, chief client officer and office head, West, North & East, Wavemaker India also mentioned “In a world obsessed with AI's rapid advancement, the ‘Make AI Mediocre Again’ campaign offers a refreshing dose of humor and self-awareness. This campaign playfully critiques the role of AI in our lives, advocating for a return to simplicity and the acceptance of imperfection. Our strategy focuses on engaging audiences where AI conversations dominate – social media and digital apps – by leveraging creators who understand and contribute to AI culture. Through witty and relatable content, we invite people to join a movement that celebrates the beauty of being human, flaws and all.”