Consumers are being left confused and unsure how to feel about the majority of soft drink brands. That’s according to new data from DAIVID, which found that confusion is among the top emotions people feel when watching soda ads.

DAIVID – a global AI company powering the ad ecosystem with #CreativeData – used its advanced creative testing technology to analyse the effectiveness of hundreds of ads from leading soft drink brands across YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.  

Unlike traditional panels, DAIVID’s AI models – powered by facial coding, eye tracking, and survey data, combined with computer vision and listening APIs – deliver instant insights into how ads perform.

The research found that confusion was among the top five emotions for viewers of ads from two-thirds of the brands studied. Meanwhile, over half (59%) of the ads tested were more likely to confuse audiences than the industry average. The research also found a lack of emotional consistency across different social channels from soda brands is making the effectiveness of their campaigns fizzle out. 

While brands such as Coke and Gatorade topped DAIVID’s creative effectiveness rankings after generating similar intense emotions whether the content was on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, some soda brands were inconsistent, generating widely different emotions.

Other key findings include: 

• Coca-Cola and Gatorade ads were the most effective overall. Using DAIVID’s Creative Effectiveness Score (CES) – a composite metric combining attention, emotion, and memory – Coca-Cola’s ads generated the highest average of 6.1/10, closely followed by Gatorade with 6/10. Both are well above the CES norm of 5.8;
• A major success factor for Coke and Gatorade was emotional consistency through 'imaginative repetition'. No matter what channel, their content generated similar emotions through calling on solid brand foundations. For example, from festive long-form films to influencer collabs, Coke’s content evoked the same top 5 emotions: warmth, nostalgia, joy, amusement, and craving;
• However, there were striking inconsistencies in how some advertisers made their audiences feel from one channel to the next. A third of the assessed brands delivered a disjointed emotional journey that, in some cases, actively harmed brand perception.

DAIVID’s chief growth officer, Barney Worfolk-Smith, said: “Our report highlights the critical need for brands to be coherent and consistent across all their communication channels. We found soft drink ad viewers were often left feeling more dizzy than fizzy, with confusion present in the top 5 emotions for two-thirds of the brands we tested. Confusion is the ultimate effectiveness killer – once it enters the frame, it suppresses all other emotions.”