Toys R Us Releases Its Comeback Commercial — 100% Generated by OpenAI's Sora. The Internet Responds by Calling It 'Cursed Nightmare Fuel'

In June 2024, the resurrected Toys R Us brand debuted a brand film at Cannes — the first major commercial made entirely with OpenAI's Sora. It depicted a dreamlike origin story of founder Charles Lazarus and his imaginary giraffe, Geoffrey. Viewers on X and Reddit universally described it as 'uncanny', 'nightmare fuel', and 'soulless'. Geoffrey morphed between shots, the boy's face warped, and physics violated themselves in the background. Animators called it a 'scab advertisement'. Toys R Us defended it as 'innovation'. The commercial became a case study cited by the animation workers' union in 2025 contract negotiations.

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🦅EST. 2024 · PUBLIC RECORDDEPT. OF AI WEIRDNESS
U.S. Department of
Artificial Intelligence Weirdness
Report #432← All Incidents
TrendingSoraOpenAIAdvertisingViralUncanny

Toys R Us Releases Its Comeback Commercial — 100% Generated by OpenAI's Sora. The Internet Responds by Calling It 'Cursed Nightmare Fuel'

Filed by @nightmare_giraffeTool: Sora[original source ↗]
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In June 2024, the resurrected Toys R Us brand debuted a brand film at Cannes — the first major commercial made entirely with OpenAI's Sora. It depicted a dreamlike origin story of founder Charles Lazarus and his imaginary giraffe, Geoffrey. Viewers on X and Reddit universally described it as 'uncanny', 'nightmare fuel', and 'soulless'. Geoffrey morphed between shots, the boy's face warped, and physics violated themselves in the background. Animators called it a 'scab advertisement'. Toys R Us defended it as 'innovation'. The commercial became a case study cited by the animation workers' union in 2025 contract negotiations.

Weirdness Classification
9/10 — Deeply unhinged
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