McDonald’s has removed a Christmas advertisement generated with artificial intelligence after receiving criticism online.
The 45-second ad was published on Dec. 6 on the McDonald’s Netherlands YouTube channel and featured generative AI clips. Viewers on social media denounced the video, with one commenter calling it “the most god-awful ad I’ve seen this year.”
On Dec. 9, McDonald’s Netherlands made the video private. In a statement to BBC News, the company said the experience was “an important learning” as it continues exploring “the effective use of AI.”
The commercial was created by Dutch agency TBWA\Neboko and U.S. production company The Sweetshop. Generative AI has become a growing advertising trend among major brands, including Coca-Cola, especially during the holiday season.
The McDonald’s ad depicted mishaps during the Christmas break, using the slogan “the most terrible time of the year,” before suggesting that the holiday would be better spent in the company of the fast-food chain.
Viewers criticized the video’s uncanny imagery and the number of stitched-together clips, calling it “creepy” and “poorly edited.” Because AI-generated clips tend to distort when run for long periods, most are kept between six and 10 seconds, meaning the 45-second commercial likely required many segments edited together.
The video also sparked concerns about industry job losses. One Instagram commenter wrote: “No actors, no camera team … welcome to the future of filmmaking. And it sucks.”
After the video was removed, Sweetshop CEO Melanie Bridge defended the production. She said in comments published by Futurism that the project took seven weeks, during which the team “hardly slept” and created “thousands of takes” before editing them into a final product.
“This wasn’t an AI trick,” she said. “It was a film.”
In a statement to BBC News, McDonald’s Netherlands said the ad was intended to “reflect the stressful moments that can occur during the holidays,” but the company chose to remove it.
“This moment serves as an important learning as we explore the effective use of AI,” the company said.
Brands are increasingly turning to firms that use AI to produce video content on shorter timelines, compared with traditional high-profile Christmas campaigns that can take up to a year to complete.
Coca-Cola has released AI-generated holiday ads for two consecutive years and has reported strong audience reception. However, several other brands, including Italian fashion house Valentino, have faced criticism for using AI in their campaigns, with detractors labeling the approach “cheap” and “lazy.”
