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3 Brands Going Anti-AI as a Marketing Strategy

Some brands are getting in controversies over AI, so these brands are setting themselves directly against it in their ads…

Written and Edited by the YPulse Editorial Team

Feb 9 2026
North America

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Almond Breeze featured the Jonas Brothers to posit a simple “It’s Really Good” slogan against surreal AI videos
Equinox is showing real workouts as the opposite to an “artificial world”
Crocs is connecting with Gen Z over “human” experiences that happen in their shoes, not online

Last night, the big ads of the Super Bowl were dominated by AI—both tech giants pushing their chatbots and non-tech companies embracing AI-created ads and storylines. But as some brands race to embrace AI, taking the opposite approach might be a surer way to stand out. In our 2026 Predictions trend report, YPulse told you this would be a year of Gen Z acting as AI detectives. With image and text generators getting more polished by the day, everything is fair play to investigate. And while many brands are leaning into AI for shopping tools, personalized recommendations, and of course,...