Christmas display in East Van festively lampoons AI, Coca-Cola, Ozempic

A cheeky display is seen outside Laryssa Gervan’s home on Victoria Drive in East Vancouver. (Credit: Laryssa Gervan)

An East Vancouver resident known for adding social commentary to her holiday displays is back—this time festively lampooning AI, Coca-Cola and Ozempic for Christmas.

Laryssa Gervan said the latest display in her Victoria Drive yard harkens back to Coca-Cola’s seasonal ads featuring polar bears, with a twist.

“I wanted to evoke that imagery but kind of turn it on its head a little bit,” she said.

The CGI polar bears, which sit atop icebergs Gervan sculpted with chicken wire, were designed to draw double-takes from passersby.

One has an unnatural number claws, a callback to the extra fingers on human hands that are sometimes a tell-tale sign of AI imagery.

At the side of the yard, an angelic figure representing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman innocently stares off into the distance.

Gervan told CTV News she was inspired by Coca-Cola’s decision to release a holiday ad created with generative AI for the second year in a row, despite facing significant backlash for last year’s campaign.

There’s also a seven-foot-tall Santa Claus drinking what at first glance appears to be a Coke bottle, but is labelled “Ozempic.” Underneath a sign reads “Always Consume,” parodying one of the company’s taglines.

Like all her displays, Gervan said the latest is meant in good fun, and intended to bring some laugher to the neighbourhood.

Earlier this year, she poked fun at Mayor Ken Sim and his efforts to eliminate the city’s elected park board and other municipal matters with a Halloween display she called “City Hell. “

Gervan said her holiday display will remain up for at least a couple weeks after Christmas.