As AI continues to make its way into all avenues of life, more brands are taking a stance about whether they are for or against the technology—and Polaroid just revealed where it stands.
In the camera maker’s latest international ad campaign, Polaroid is making the case for embracing an analog life with a series of billboards featuring anti-tech phrases like “no one on their deathbed ever said: I wish I’d spent more time on my phone.”
Placed deliberately in high-traffic areas with connections to tech culture—like Apple Stores and Google offices in New York City and London or busy city centers and airports—the minimalist ads feature handwritten notes in a white background, with some featuring photography with Polaroid’s distinct feel, aiming to make passersby question their relationship with technology.
“We are analog creatures, built to connect through our senses but the more we lose ourselves in digital algorithms, the more we drift away from empathy and real connection,” Patricia Varella, brand and creative director at Polaroid, said in a press release.
“Go jump in some water”
But while some of the ads feature straightforward anti-social media rhetoric like “Real stories. Not stories & reels,” another is catching the public’s attention for its stance on AI—particularly as discourse surrounding the environmental impact of the infrastructure needed to run the technology continues to boil.
“Go jump in some water before the data centers drink it all up,” the ad reads. The billboard was placed in New York’s Coney Island with the ocean as a background.
Many embraced the company’s beachside ad, saying the messaging aligns with Polaroid’s larger stance on analog technology.
“It’s a camera company of course they’re anti-AI?? It’s not like they’re saying ‘kill all shareholders’ a user said on X.
Another added, “their brand is all about living in the moment, so its totally on brand.”
But the post has also sparked conversation on how public opposition to AI and data centers has become a sort of low-hanging fruit for companies looking to chase cultural relevance.
“It’s pretty good for them – AI is their enemy (to sell Polaroids people need to take pictures IRL), data centers are public enemy #1 and their whole brand revolves around living in the moment,” a user said on X.
Social media experts weighed in too, with digital culture journalist Taylor Lorenz noting, “we’re at the point where brands are using AI/data center backlash for social media marketing to drive engagement.”
In a recent Gallup poll, 71% of Americans said they would be opposed to the building of a data center in their area, making data centers even less popular than nuclear power centers at the moment.