Levi’s films its holiday ad in claymation and leaves AI out

In the spot a yeti called Gus bursts into a cabin party, then calms down once a guest throws him a red sweater. Four hours of filming went into each second of animation, B&T reports, with every set and character made by hand and each outfit recreated by artisans. The film nods to Clayman, Levi’s 1995 ad, which the brand says was the first full-length commercial shot entirely in claymation.

Kenny Mitchell, the global chief marketing officer, said the film celebrates “the craft and human creativity synonymous with the Levi’s brand.” Sweaters sit at its centre (Adweek), and it runs across social, digital and stores, where select Levi’s Tailor Shops offer fuzzy holiday customisation.

Marketing Dive ties the choice to the public mood. Half of consumers prefer brands that skip generative AI in their advertising, by a 2026 Gartner study it cites, and Prada and E.l.f. have also released handmade stop-motion work this season.

On our price sheet, checked 8 November, Veo 3.1 Fast costs $0.12 a second at 1080p on Google’s API, so 60 seconds of generated footage is $7.20. An AI-made spot would also fall under the platform and state rules in our AI ad disclosure guide.

Levi’s spent 240 hours of filming on one minute of clay, against $7.20 for a minute of raw Veo 3.1 Fast footage on our sheet, and that spend buys a line it can print: no AI in the filming, for the half of consumers Gartner counts as preferring brands that skip it.