Given recent events, here’s my statement on:
* AI
* Taste
* Brand management
* Marketing
* Visual neglect
My latest film is titled:
„A Commercial Like a Committee Decision“, or: “How to Damage a Brand with AI in 20 Seconds — As Permanently as Possible“
It’s essentially an open letter to all our existing clients and marketing decision-makers around the world.
That’s why I also created this international version (of course, with the help of AI). This is my response to a current commercial — THE commercial! — from DeBeukelaer, in the year of our Lord 2025.
I’m a huge fan of long-form content and deep thinking, and beneath comes the main course. Enjoy!
My thoughts on AI, taste, brand care, and visual neglect — using DeBeukelaer as an example.
Wait a second — did I just destroy my own brand with this little 50-second video? Zitzlaff stands for sustainable brand building, visual communication, authentic film and photo projects with natural appeal, honest portraits, and real emotions. And then I go and do something like this. Weird.
So if someone now says, “This Zitzlaff looks really cheap, generic, random”: YES, that’s exactly the point. I want to show something with this.
Please, do watch the original video on YouTube.
People of the world, take a look at this „film.“ Just look at it.
DeBeukelaer’s original. I could watch it for hours, over and over again:
👉
Not because it’s beautiful, innovative, or well done — but because it brutally shows how far AI has already brought us (as of summer 2025), and what people are daring to throw out into the world under the AI label.
It hurts. It hurts deeply.
I made my video as a response, because so much of what comes out of these insane AI tools is just generic, random image-mush — moving sticker cutouts, animated pixel shells without a breath of life, completely soulless, as unnecessary as a goiter.
I stumbled upon the original (July 2025) while browsing Prime Video discount content. And then came that ad. I couldn’t believe it at first — but it’s real. Verified it on YouTube: not a fake. It’s the official ad from a real company. Celebrating their 70th anniversary. Seriously.
I used to occasionally eat the “Prinzenrolle” cookies. That’s over now. Lost my appetite. I feel sick.
If the advertised product (Prinzenrolle) is even half as tasteless, sloppily thrown together, and devoid of quality control as this DeBeukelaer image slop, then hands off!
Marketing rubs off, folks! Ever thought about what happens if something like this “works” and goes viral? That’s the end.
I don’t even want to know how much money was blown just for the TV/Prime/YouTube ad placement. But hey — for the 70th, you go all out.
They say: beware of old men. They don’t mince words anymore, ‘cause they’ve got nothing to lose. Looks like old white man DeBeukelaer is saying: FYA. “I’ve been draining your wallets with unhealthy snacks for 70 years — making you fat with bad teeth — but don’t expect anything decent in return. I’ll just slap together the cheapest solution with animated clichés.” No one imagined this. This came straight from the AI void.
And please — no shot longer than a blink. That way, lack of consistency isn’t a problem. The characters? Like clip art.
So tasteless. A commercial like a committee decision.
All that was missing was a slightly overweight redhead groping a non-white male with a wooden leg at the pool (shoutout to the Büren fiasco, see pic beneath). But maybe the budget didn’t stretch quite that far, no matter how cheap the production was.
Apparently, no one in marketing had the guts, sense, or style to say: STOP — this won’t do. STOP — this looks like crap. STOP — we’re destroying our brand core for no reason. STOP — this really looks cheap.
Nope. No one said that. Because this atrocity is out in the wild.
Probably the lowest common denominator was: “Meh, it’s new. Let’s do it.”
NO, IT’S NOT OK!
Which agency pitched, won, sold, and made this? I imagine the pitch went something like: “We use AI. Cutting edge. Cheap and fast.”
Well, it does look cheap. And fast. And crap.
Or was this an in-house job by overworked interns? Doesn’t matter. You just don’t offer this kind of garbage to a client.
What a sad birthday. Time to go, DeBeukelaer.
Of course, I’d also love a client who gives me full creative freedom and a proper budget. I solemnly swear the result would be better than this sad excuse for a film.
This isn’t about taste or tech. It’s not AI-bashing — I use it myself. The real issue is the lack of agency among people using these powerful tools — and the blindness of those holding the budget.
My challenge, when I saw that yesterday: What can I make in 3 hours with Midjourney — with zero inspiration or budget?
The result: Midjourney v7, imageprompt.org, Heygen, a little Photoshop, Topaz Video AI, audiio, and DaVinci Resolve. That’s my film.
Have you found better solutions? Let me know. I’m curious. Boris Eldagsen — got any artistic ideas? Should we start a “Königsrollen Prompt Challenge”?
Every rando can now whip up their own little avatar. Scribble anime. Pump out songs. Craft perfect portraits. Write poems and books about things they’ve never heard of — and then proudly say: “Look what I made!”
Let me state my firm belief: The hunger for this artificial mush (Alex de Vito might call it “gatsch”), the yearning for the big lie, the fascination with infinite possibilities — it will all melt away like yesterday’s snow. Maybe not now (July 2025), but soon. I’m sure of it.
I truly believe in the power of the real. The eyes of trained photographers. Of trained illustrators, designers, creatives — people who care about what they make, who know what they’re doing, who master their craft. That will come back.
Don’t lose hope. We’re still here. And there are many of us! Don’t give up. Don’t despair. Let’s strengthen education and training so a disaster like this can’t happen again.
I used to think we could only work with small or mid-sized companies. Now I know: with AI, we can handle global brands. Easy.
And hey — shoutout to the DeBeukelaer marketing team or other heritage brands: Next time you launch a campaign — think of me first! I can do this too. Not exactly cheap — but better!
Here’s my micro-funnel. Click it. Let’s go. Can’t wait! www.zitzlaff.com/date
#VisualNeglect #Taste #Fail #Clusterfuck #AI #Education #Craft #Aesthetics #CommitteeLogic #Büren
