McDonald's Netherlands Pulls AI-Generated Christmas Ad After Online Criticism.
McDonald's has removed a Christmas advertisement made with generative AI after receiving widespread criticism on social media.
The brief spot was developed via AI-generated video and was first uploaded publicly for the Dutch branch of McDonald's on 6 December.
Viewer Response and Removal
Shortly after its release, audiences online criticized the use of AI in the film. Many called it "uncanny" and "awkwardly stitched together".
"This incident serves as an important learning as we examine the proper application of Artificial Intelligence," said a statement from the company.
The commercial was produced for McDonald's by Netherlands-based agency TBWA\Neboko and US firm The Sweetshop. It portrayed various situations that might go awry during the festive season, with the slogan "the most terrible time of the year".
The Trend of AI in Advertising
Campaigns that incorporate AI tools have become a growing trend among large corporations, particularly for the Christmas campaign season.
- Coca-Cola has recently released back-to-back AI-generated Christmas commercials.
- Technical Challenges: As clips made with generative AI are susceptible to degrade the longer they run, the majority of AI video outputs tend to be only short in length.
- Industry Concerns: The video also provoked concerns about job displacement in the advertising sector, with some observers pointing out it might affect work for actors.
Response from the Creators
After the video's removal, a producer's CEO, Melanie Bridge, spoke in support of the project.
Bridge claimed, the development required "seven weeks" and involved generating "thousands of takes" which were then crafted afterward "in the same way we would on any standard production".
"This wasn't just an experiment," Bridge asserted. "We consider it a proper commercial."
Mixed Audience Sentiment
While the McDonald's commercial was largely panned, the reception for other AI-generated holiday ads has been more mixed.
For instance, a recent AI-generated Christmas spot from Coca-Cola reportedly garnered a 61% "positive sentiment rating" from viewers.
However, several companies have likewise encountered scrutiny for employing AI in marketing. Luxury fashion house Valentino, for example, was lambasted for advertisements that critics described as "low-effort" and "disturbing".
The incident illustrates the evolving debate within the advertising and creative sectors about the trade-off between new tools and creative integrity.