The global fast-food chain has taken down a holiday commercial produced with Artificial Intelligence following facing considerable public disapproval.
The brief film was produced with the help of AI video tools and was first uploaded publicly for the Dutch branch of McDonald's back on 6 December.
Social Media Criticism and Decision to Pull
Following its publication, audiences online denounced the implementation of AI in the advert. A number of called it "uncanny" and "awkwardly stitched together".
"This experience is an important learning as we investigate the appropriate utilization of Artificial Intelligence," stated a statement from McDonald's Netherlands.
The advert was developed for McDonald's by Netherlands-based company TBWA\Neboko and American firm The Sweetshop. It portrayed various things that can go wrong during the Christmas break, with the slogan "the most terrible time of the year".
The Trend of AI Commercials
Commercials that feature AI tools have emerged as a increasing trend among large brands, particularly for the Christmas campaign season.
- Coca-Cola has similarly launched back-to-back AI-created holiday ads.
- Technical Challenges: Since segments created using current AI video tools are more likely to degrade the longer they run, the majority of such clips tend to be roughly a few seconds in length.
- Industry Concerns: The ad also provoked worries about automation in the creative industry, with some commenters pointing out it might reduce work for production staff.
Response from the Production Company
After the video's removal, The Sweetshop's chief executive, Melanie Bridge, spoke in support of the project.
She stated, the development took "seven weeks" and involved creating "thousands of takes" which were then crafted in post-production "in the same way we would on any standard production".
"This wasn't just an experiment," she said. "The result was a finished piece."
Mixed Audience Sentiment
While the McDonald's commercial was mostly panned, the sentiment for some AI-assisted holiday ads has been more mixed.
For instance, a consecutive AI-created Christmas ad from another major brand according to analysis achieved a 61% "favorable response" from online commenters.
However, several companies have likewise encountered criticism for employing the technique in marketing. Luxury brand Valentino, for example, was criticized for advertisements that critics described as "low-effort" and "disturbing".
The episode underscores the ongoing conversation within the advertising and production industries about the trade-off between AI efficiency and human craftsmanship.
