Meta's New AI Ad Uses David Bowie's Apocalypse Song to Promote Optimism
Meta published an ad using David Bowie's "Five Years," a song about the end of the world, to argue AI will not make us less connected. Critics call the choice either ignorant or insidious.
On Thursday morning, Meta released an ad on its official Instagram account claiming that artificial intelligence will not "make us less connected" or "leave us behind." The ad is set to David Bowie's 1972 track "Five Years," a song about the apocalypse.
The ad features uplifting scenes: a toddler playing with a butterfly, parents laughing with their infant, and Jalen Brunson waving at the Knicks Championship Parade. It also highlights non-harassing use cases for Meta's controversial smart glasses.
The snippet used includes lyrics about telephones, opera houses, and people, but skips the opening verses: "We had five years left to cry in" and "Earth was really dying."
Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan defended the choice by citing a 1972 Bowie quote about optimism for the future. However, BowieBible.com notes the song "speaks of a dystopian nightmare" about Earth's final five years. Drummer Mick Woodmansey recalled Bowie crying during the recording, calling the song "pretty depressing."
Jeremy D. Larson of Pitchfork said using songs out of context is a tradition, but Meta's choice seems "either really ignorant or really insidious." He added that hearing Bowie's work used for AI feels "especially and specifically nonconsensual."
CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted that the company is focused on giving everyone tools to reach their potential and distributing technology's benefits.
The ad joins a trend of tech companies trying to assuage AI fears. Anthropic released an ad opening with a burning building, Google's ad used Gemini to write a letter for a child, and FTX's Super Bowl ad with Larry David preceded its bankruptcy.
The article concludes that tech companies are failing to convince people their products aren't making the world worse.
