Human-Like Roborics

Last January for Absolut vodka, TBWA\Chiat\Day and director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) created a 30-minute short film that revolved around humanized robot themes including robot loneliness, robot love, and robot dismemberment. Now, David & Goliath is out with a new commercial for Carl's Jr. (directed by MJZ's Rocky Morton) that draws on similar motifs, sans romance but adding some slapstick into the mix. The Carl's Jr. work wasn't an intentional parody of the TBWA spot, according to Jason Karley, one of the D&G creative directors on the spot. But in designing the physical look of the Carl's Jr. robot, the team did discuss that it should steer clear stylistically of Absolut's machines (which it does). Regardless, the humor is a welcome twist on emotive renditions of artificial intelligence—even if the joke is about the schadenfreude of watching the robot mash grub against its face in a frustrated, frenzied rage. "He's got a crappy 9-to-5 job and a little apartment," says Karley. "He's just like anybody else, but he's a robot, and he can't eat food because he doesn't have a stomach and stuff." The robot is also a symbol for the evil, giant, alien machines that bread other chicken patties before they're frozen and shipped to the locations where they're served to customers. But we're compelled to note that despite being hand-breaded and looking pretty tasty, that Carl's Jr. sandwich has a disconcerting bounce to it.
Here are two videos about these kinds of robots.