What is an AI commercial, and how is one made?

An AI commercial is a finished ad whose people, places and shots are generated by AI models from a written plan instead of filmed. That is the short definition. The longer one matters more, because "AI commercial" is used for three different things, and the price and the result depend on which one you mean. Our AI commercials page has the summary; this post is the full tour, from how a real commercial gets made to what the AI version still gets wrong.

Three things people mean by "AI commercial"

1. An avatar ad. A realistic AI presenter reads a script to camera, usually in a vertical feed video, with stock or simple footage around them.
2. Generated footage. Video models make the shots themselves: a kitchen at dawn, a bottle on a plinth, a city street. No camera, no crew.
3. A fully AI-made spot. A presenter, generated footage, a voice, music and titles, cut together into a 15, 30 or 60-second ad that ends on an end card (the last screen, with your logo and what to do next).

The third kind is what we make, and it is what this post is about.

How a real commercial gets made

A filmed commercial goes through eight steps, and knowing them shows where AI fits.

1. Brief. One page: the goal, the audience, the one message, why to believe it, the tone, where it runs.
2. Concept and script. The idea, then a two-column script: picture on the left, sound on the right.
3. Treatment. The director's pitch for the look, the casting, the camera and the rhythm.
4. Storyboard and shot list. Every shot drawn and listed: its size, its camera move, the line said over it, the text on screen.
5. Sign-off. The client approves the board, the cast and the hero product (the one perfect sample for close-ups).
6. Shoot. People and story first, then a separate tabletop day for product shots.
7. Post-production. The edit, color, motion graphics, sound design and mix.
8. Versions. Cut-downs (shorter versions of the same ad), the three shapes, captions and platform specs.

A commercial sells one idea fast. It cuts often, moves the camera with purpose, shows the product big and close, and ends on a branded card.

Which steps AI takes over, and which stay human

AI now writes the script and the storyboard from the brief, does the shoot (the video models), and does most of the post-production and versions. Three steps stay with people, and they decide whether the ad is any good.

• The brief. One message, three facts you can prove, the exact words of your call to action (what you ask people to do, like "Start free at brightdesk.com").
• The approval. Someone has to look at the plan and say yes. With a storyboard first, that costs nothing and happens before any money is spent.
• The facts. Every number, claim and quote on screen should be one you gave. A model will happily invent a five-star rating; a storyboard you read first will not let it through.

Step by step: how we make one

1. You write a short brief. What the product is, who it is for, how long the ad should run, the tone, the call to action and your web address. Pick AI spokespeople (realistic presenters who say your lines on camera) and their voices if you want people in it, and add a photo or clip of your product if you have one. There is nothing to film.
2. You get a storyboard, free. The storyboard is a shot-by-shot plan, and most shots come with a preview still, one picture that shows what the shot will look like. Change any line, move or remove shots, or ask for a fresh storyboard. It shows the exact price for its finished length, and nothing that costs money is made until you approve it.
3. You approve and pay once. For the length you approved. No plan, no subscription; only extras past what the commercial includes, like more reshoots or dubbing, use credits.
4. Every shot is made. Spokespeople say their lines. Each B-roll clip (the footage that plays while someone talks) starts from the still you approved, so the ad looks like the storyboard. A shot that fails is tried again and never counted.
5. Watch, fix, download. The ad is cut together with the voice, music and your end card, in wide 16:9, vertical 9:16 and square 1:1. Reshoot a shot you don't like with new words or a new description; reshoots are included up to an allowance shown on the commercial's page. Edits and re-renders are free, within the AI writing, voice and render time included with it.

The models, named

As of November 2026, these are the models inside our pipeline. We change them when better ones arrive, so the AI commercials page has the current list.

• Presenters: HeyGen, a stock presenter from the library, animated to speak your lines.
• B-roll: Kling 3 Pro and Veo 3.1 Fast, through fal, both starting from the approved still.
• Stills: FLUX, for photoreal frames with a slow push-in (the camera moving slowly closer).
• Voice: ElevenLabs, from a library of voices cleared for commercial use.

What AI still gets wrong

Honest limits, and how a storyboard-first process works around each.

• Text and logos inside the picture. Models garble letters, so our titles and end card are drawn by our renderer, not by the model, and your logo goes on the end card as a file.
• Your exact product in motion. Generated footage follows your description and can look like your product, but no model copies a product exactly. The fix is your real photo as its own shot, big and close.
• Hands and small actions. Pouring, typing, buttoning. Fewer such shots, shorter ones, and the preview still before you pay.
• Continuity. The same person or kitchen can drift between shots. Each clip starts from an approved still, which holds the look together, and a reshoot fixes the one that drifts.
• Your real screens. For software, generated footage cannot draw your actual interface. A screen recording in your media library is the only honest way to show it.

"AI commercial maker" or done-for-you?

Search for an AI commercial maker and you find tools: pick a model, write a prompt, generate, pick the take, fix it, edit, export. They are powerful and cheap per raw clip. They also hand you every one of those steps and show the cost in credits.

Done-for-you means the steps are done for you from a plan you approve. You trade some control over each clip for a finished ad, a price in dollars before the render, and someone else doing the retakes. If you enjoy driving the tools, drive them. If you want the commercial, start with the storyboard. Our post on what a commercial costs in 2026 puts numbers on both roads.

Can you run an AI commercial on TV and on ad platforms?

As content, yes: the finished file is yours under our terms, and you run it where you choose. Three checks first. Some platforms ask you to label AI-made content, and the rules differ and change, so read the current policy where you run the ad. A TV station publishes its own file, length and loudness requirements, so check your download against them. And the same advertising rules apply as to any ad: if the script says "rated 4.9 stars," you need the rating.

A checklist for judging an AI commercial

• One message, said once in words and once in pictures.
• The product on screen twice: early, and big just before the end card.
• A hook (the first two or three seconds that make someone stop scrolling) that works with the sound off.
• An end card with the logo, the call to action and the web address, readable on a phone.
• No invented facts, ratings or quotes.
• A vertical and a square version, not only the wide one.

Who makes this

customcommercials.ai is made by DigitalShyft, a marketing and consulting company in Scottsdale, Arizona, and it is a sister product to howtovideos.ai, which makes how-to videos, guides and help centers. We make ads. The storyboard is free, you see the price before you pay, and the price is on our pricing page.

FAQ

Is an AI commercial legal to run?

Yes. The finished commercial is your content, and you run it where you choose, under the same advertising rules as any ad. Check each platform's or station's policy on AI-made content before you publish, and make sure every claim and logo in it is one you have the right to use.

Do I have to label it as AI?

It depends on where it runs. Some platforms require a label for AI-generated or altered video and others do not, and the rules change, so read each platform's current policy before you upload. We do not hide that the presenters and footage are generated, and neither should your ad.

Can AI use my real product?

Your own photo or clip goes on screen as its own shot. A photo or screenshot is cropped to fill a wide frame (and again for vertical and square), so use a landscape image with the product in the middle, or a screen recording, which is shown whole on a blurred backdrop. Generated footage follows your description and can look like your product, but no model copies a product exactly, so keep your real photo for the big product shot.

How much does an AI commercial cost?

Do-it-yourself tools charge $15 to $280 a month for credits, about $1 to $12 of credits per raw ad before the takes you throw away. Done-for-you AI services charge roughly $60 to $250 an ad. Ours is priced by its format and finished length, shown before you pay, and listed on the pricing page.

What is the difference between an AI commercial and an AI video ad?

Nothing in how they are made. A commercial usually runs 30 or 60 seconds on TV, streaming or YouTube in wide 16:9. A video ad is usually shorter, vertical or square, and built to work with the sound off in a social feed. You get all three shapes from one storyboard either way.

Sources

• The eight production steps are our summary of how agencies and directors describe their process: Robin Piree on director's treatments (https://robinpiree.com/blog/how-to-write-a-directors-treatment-for-a-tv-commercial), No Film School on commercial treatments (https://nofilmschool.com/commercial-treatment) and StudioBinder on shot lists (https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/shot-lists).
• Google, creative best practices for YouTube ads (the ABCD framework): https://business.google.com/us/think/future-of-marketing/creative-best-practices-youtube-ads/
• TikTok, creative best practices for performance ads: https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/creative-best-practices?lang=en
• HeyGen models: https://developers.heygen.com/models
• fal, Kling 3 Pro image-to-video: https://fal.ai/models/fal-ai/kling-video/v3/pro/image-to-video/api and Veo 3.1 Fast image-to-video: https://fal.ai/models/fal-ai/veo3.1/fast/image-to-video/api
• Google Cloud, prompting guide for Veo 3.1: https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/ultimate-prompting-guide-for-veo-3-1
• Market prices for do-it-yourself and done-for-you AI ads: our post on what a commercial costs in 2026, with each vendor's page linked.