Meta's AI Optimism Ad Soundtracked by David Bowie Song About Human Extinction

Meta has released a feel-good advertisement promoting artificial intelligence, filled with imagery of people dancing, embracing, and connecting. But there's an ironic problem lurking beneath the uplifting visuals: the entire ad is set to David Bowie's "Five Years," a song about mass extinction.

The campaign opens with a monochrome eye absorbing headlines warning of job losses and societal fracture, before the video bursts into color showing humans in moments of joy and togetherness. A narrator promises optimism: "We're betting on people, and we like those odds. The future is for everyone."

The Disconnect#

The issue isn't immediately obvious—the particular section of Bowie's track used in the ad repeats the word "people," which naturally fits Meta's message. However, the full song tells a radically different story. The verses directly preceding the quoted passage contain these lines:

News had just come over We had five years left to cry in News guy wept and told us Earth was really dying

The track, released in 1969, narrates widespread panic after humanity learns of impending extinction. Yet Meta's creative team appears to have overlooked this context entirely, using it as the backdrop for a message about why AI will improve human connection and potential.

Tech Leadership's Literary Blind Spot#

This isn't an isolated misstep in the tech world. The history of major AI and tech firms reveals a consistent pattern of selecting cultural touchstones whose actual messages contradict their stated missions:

• Meta's Oculus once distributed copies of "Ready Player One" to new hires—a novel depicting a dystopian future where a tech company wielding virtual reality becomes dangerously powerful
• OpenAI's Sam Altman has cited the film "Her" as inspiration, despite its cautionary tale about emotional dependency on AI systems
• Palantir, which builds government surveillance AI, takes its name from a magical artifact used by evil forces in "Lord of the Rings" for spying and dominance

The pattern suggests that tech executives excel at engineering but may benefit from stronger engagement with the humanities and critical analysis.

The Broader PR Challenge#

Meta faces stiff headwinds in public perception regardless of creative choices. A recent Pew Research survey found that only 16% of Americans view AI's societal impact over the next two decades as positive, while 40% expect negative consequences. Anthropic's own recent campaign—featuring burning houses, surveillance footage, and graveyards—inadvertently communicated similar dread despite attempting to build trust around responsible AI development.