New Delhi, Dec. 15 -- A French supermarket's humble Christmas advert is doing something most global brands can only dream of: connecting deeply with millions of people around the world, without a single frame of generative AI.

The two-and-a-half-minute film, "Unloved" (Le mal aime), made for Intermarche, tells a simple yet powerful story: A lonely wolf, feared and avoided by other forest animals, chooses to change.

Instead of hunting, he learns to cook vegetables and brings a homemade dish to a Christmas feast, gradually earning friendship and acceptance.

The narrative unfolds in a warm, painterly, animated world, bookended by live-action scenes of a child soothed by the tale at Christmas.

What might sound like a gentle children's fab...