NEW YORK, June 24, 2024. The iconic Toys”R”Us brand is leaping ahead of the curve by creating the first-ever brand film using OpenAI’s new text-to-video tool, Sora. Toys”R”Us Studios, the entertainment production arm of the global toy brand, partnered with Emmy-nominated creative agency Native Foreign, whose Chief Creative has alpha access to Sora – which has not yet been publicly released. Together, they premiered this brand film during the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival, showcasing it to an audience of brand and advertising industry leaders at an exclusive LBB Beach event in France.
The Origin of Toys”R”Us brand film was co-produced by four-time Emmy Award-winning producer and Toys”R”Us Studios President Kim Miller Olko as executive producer and Native Foreign’s Nik Kleverov as director. Sora can generate up to one-minute-long videos featuring realistic scenes and multiple characters, all based on typed-in instructions. The brand piece tells the story of Toys”R”Us founder Charles Lazarus and his idea that transformed toy stores forever, featuring the beloved mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe coming to him in a dream – a dream that came true much to the delight of generations of children. The full brand film is available to view on https://toysrus.com/studios.
“Charles Lazarus was a visionary ahead of his time and we wanted to honor his legacy with a spot using the most cutting-edge technology available. Our brand embraces innovation and the emotional appeal of Toys”R”Us to connect with consumers in unexpected ways. We aim to capture that nostalgic feeling and deliver it uniquely to Toys”R”Us kids of all ages. Partnering with Native Foreign to push the boundaries of OpenAI’s Sora is truly exciting. Dreams are full of magic and endless possibilities, and so is Toys”R”Us,” said Kim Miller Olko, Toys”R”Us Global Chief Marketing Officer and President of Toys”R”Us Studios.
“The creative industry is experiencing a renaissance, much like Toys”R”Us,” said Nik Kleverov, Chief Creative Officer at Native Foreign. “Through Sora, we were able to tell this incredible story with remarkable speed and efficiency. Toys”R”Us is the perfect brand to embrace this AI-forward strategy, and we are thrilled to collaborate with their creative team to help lead the next wave of innovative storytelling.”
OpenAI’s Sora enabled Toys”R”Us Studios and Native Foreign to bring a concept to reality in just a few weeks, condensing hundreds of iterative shots down to a couple dozen. The brand film was almost entirely created with Sora, with some corrective VFX and an original music score composed by Aaron Marsh of famed indie rock band Copeland.
