Mondelez bets $40M on generative AI to cut ad production costs by up to 50%

New Delhi: Mondelez International, the company behind Oreo, Cadbury, Milka and Chips Ahoy, is rolling out a generative AI system that it says can cut the cost of producing marketing content by 30% to 50%, and eventually generate TV-ready ads at a fraction of normal spend. The company has already invested more than $40 million in the tool, which it co-developed with Publicis Groupe and Accenture, according to executives quoted by Reuters.

“The cost to do animations is in the hundreds of thousands. This type of setup is orders of magnitude smaller,” said Jon Halvorson, global senior vice president of consumer experience at Mondelez. He said the company began building the system last year and is now actively using it in-market. 

Right now, the AI is being used for short-form video and social content. Examples include targeted clips for Chips Ahoy in the US and Milka in Germany, like an eight-second Milka video with waves of chocolate rolling over a wafer, where the background changes based on which audience is being targeted. 

Starting in November 2025, Mondelez plans to use AI-generated assets for Oreo product pages on major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Walmart, tailoring visuals and motion to specific shoppers. The company will then extend the tool to Lacta and Oreo in Brazil and Cadbury in the UK. 

The next step is television.

Halvorson said the AI should be able to generate short TV ads ready to air in the 2026 holiday season, and Mondelez is eyeing even bigger stages. One ambition on the table: using AI-generated creative in a 2027 Super Bowl spot. He added that as the tool becomes capable of more complex video work, the cost savings could increase beyond the current 30–50% range. 

AI is being positioned internally as a way to spend less on external agencies, produce many creative variations quickly, and push new product communication to market faster. Rivals including Kraft Heinz and Coca-Cola are pursuing similar AI strategies to cut marketing costs and accelerate testing, Reuters reported.

At the same time, Mondelez says it’s drawing clear red lines.

According to Tina Vaswani, vice president of digital enablement and data, every AI asset is still checked by humans before it goes out. Mondelez has also set internal guardrails: no glorifying unhealthy eating, no vaping cues, no “eat more” overconsumption messaging, no emotionally manipulative language, and no offensive stereotypes. 

The company is also currently avoiding AI-generated human likenesses, a lesson learned from the backlash other brands faced when AI-generated people in ads were called “soulless” and “creepy,” including Coca-Cola’s 2024 holiday work. 

In other words, Mondelez wants the efficiency of AI, without the PR blowback.

Internally, the pitch is simple: this is not just cheaper content. It’s faster iteration, more targeted creative, and global scale, with Oreo in the US, Milka in Europe, Lacta in Brazil, Cadbury in the UK,  all running off the same AI engine. If it works, it changes how a global FMCG marketer makes ads, not in 2030, but next year.