The Challenge: Capturing Nostalgia in a Modern Ad Campaign
When TigerLily, a creative and production studio, approached us at Laetro with their latest project, we knew we were in for an exciting challenge. They were creating a nostalgia-themed broadcast spot for their client, Krystal Restaurants, an iconic fast-food brand in the Southeastern U.S. The catch? Crucial historical images needed for the ad were either missing or too damaged to use.
Andrew Fallon, Chief Creative Officer at Tigerlily, and our main partner on the project recalled:
"We kicked around using AI early on, but weren’t sure it was feasible for what we wanted to do. After doing a deep dive into Krystal’s archive, we knew we’d need to recreate scenes we read about in our research but couldn’t find visually. That’s where Laetro came in."
Our Approach: Blending Classic Creativity with Cutting-Edge AI
James White, Laetro Creative Director, recalls when TigerLily outlined the project, he saw the potential right away. But he also knew we were up against a distinct challenge—how do we authentically recreate compelling visuals when we don’t have access to adequate source material?
At Laetro, we love pushing the boundaries of what's possible by combining human creativity with AI.
Here's how we tackled this project:
- Collaborative Groundwork: We worked closely with TigerLily to understand the specific images they needed. They used actors and period-appropriate props to stage scenes, framing and positioning the shots exactly as they wanted. Those staged references were then used to train Laetro’s proprietary AI model in order to generate new, yet historically representative images.
- AI Magic: James, who specializing in human-AI design solutions, trained a proprietary Laetro AI model to capture the essence of vintage photography and film: "We trained the AI using materials from a variety of sources to cover all aspects of the imagery; to teach it how to recreate the subtle nuances of a different era, as if it were crafting the visuals through the lens of that time."
- The Human Touch: AI got us most of the way there, but that final stretch? That’s where James used his Photoshop and image compositing skills to finalize the shots.
They were able to generate the scenes so they seamlessly integrated into the spot. They got the period looks correct and James, who has both AI and traditional design skills, made sure the food was perfectly presented.
Andrew Fallon, Chief Creative Officer at TigerLily
The Outcome: Time travel (almost)
The result? A series of AI-generated scenes that blended seamlessly with Krystal's genuine historical footage helping to create a cohesive nostalgic journey through their history.
Here are the side-by-side images of the modern day references and the final AI generated results.
Ready to Make Some History?
Whether you're looking to recreate the past for a nostalgic ad campaign, envision the future, or anything in between, we're here to help. At Laetro, we're not just using AI – we're using it to push the boundaries of what's creatively possible in any medium.