David Blagojevic, a commercial film director, has demonstrated the growing potential of AI-driven content production with a speculative KFC advertisement that cost less than $400 to create. In a LinkedIn post, Blagojevic detailed his process of using AI tools to craft a high-quality commercial, a project that would traditionally require a budget exceeding $400,000.
“The goal was to test the boundaries of current AI tools when it comes to photorealism in the food & beverage world—and to explore how well CGI and AI can merge for immersive storytelling,” he wrote.
Blagojevic, who has a background in live-action tabletop food production, blended traditional techniques with AI-driven solutions to achieve a visually compelling result. The project began with analog storyboarding before incorporating AI-assisted song generation and 3D animation for precise camera control. He also studied KFC’s campaign history to ensure the visual and tonal accuracy of the speculative ad, treating it like a conventional agency-client production.
The production process involved generating thousands of food images, applying animation and VFX tweaks, and refining sound design. A range of AI tools, including Runway, Pika, Kling AI, Google DeepMind Veo2, Luma AI, and OpenAI’s Sora, were used at different stages of development.
Blagojevic emphasised that the commercial was a non-commercial test project designed to explore AI’s capabilities in content production. “We are not affiliated with KFC or any of their official marketing campaigns,” he clarified.
Industry observers have noted the dramatic shift AI is bringing to advertising and media production. “This would have previously cost $400K+. Times are changing. Anything is possible,” Blagojevic remarked, highlighting how AI tools are redefining creative workflows and lowering production costs.
The ad has sparked widespread discussion online, with many praising its quality and highlighting the cost-saving potential of AI in advertising. Social media users pointed out that KFC’s national ad spots typically cost between $300,000 and $700,000, while AI-enabled productions could be delivered for a fraction of that. Some noted that similar AI-generated ads could currently command $10,000 to $40,000 from clients, making them a lucrative option for creatives. Others called for brands to embrace AI-generated, in-genre advertising to make commercial breaks more engaging, with one user joking that they’d rather see a cyberpunk Colonel Sanders interrupt a Blade Runner screening than another repetitive insurance ad.