The promos have used generative AI…
Channel 4’s in-house agency 4creative is promoting the new series of the Channel 4 unscripted format Open House: The Great Sex Experiment in the only way that can do it justice: by taking the emotion out of non-monogamy with a creative brought to life by generative AI.
David Wigglesworth, Executive Creative Director, 4creative:
“Open House is an utterly bonkers show that more people need to be watching. So we set out to reflect its wild, anything-goes spirit with a campaign that’s just as strange, funny and thought-provoking. By taking picture-perfect couples and throwing a third person into the mix, we wanted to show — quite literally — how weird things can get when you open up your relationship.”
Open House explores whether monogamy is an outdated concept in modern relationships, following previously monogamous couples as they experiment in open sexual relationships for the very first time. To match up with the show’s provocative and unpredictable nature, the 4creative team knew they had to think outside of the box.
The end result saw 4creative poke fun at the immediate human instinct to resist sharing a romantic partner with someone else by seeing how a generative AI tool would deal with the subject when prompted.
The robotic, barmy teaser clip is suitably detached from reality. Showcasing seemingly ordinary couples on a romantic date, each scene takes a surreal turn when a third lover is thrown into the mix. The unmistakable visual cues of AI’s involvement that follow include partners spitting orange juice and popcorn over one another, and a man who is revealed to be half-dolphin flying out of a swimming pool. The promos, live from Tuesday 22 April, will all feature the legal disclaimer: “AI was used in the making of this advert… but the show itself features real humans”.
The concept was created entirely by the 4creative team who then used AI to bring it to life and were delighted by its chaotic nature, keeping Channel 4’s ethos and spirit within the work. With experimentation so key to 4creative’s purpose, the team felt it was a logical fit to try something innovative for a show that pushes boundaries.
“The result is bold, visually bonkers, and just a little bit messy. Much like the show itself.” – David Wigglesworth
Using generative AI to help create a promo was a first for 4creative, treated as an experiment as the team played with tools that were right for the creative idea. The teaser was made with Adobe Firefly, with a focus on using trusted ethical software that avoids plagiarising the work of other creatives by using licensed data.
Series three of Open House will air in Spring 2025.
