McDonald's has pulled a holiday commercial produced with Artificial Intelligence after facing widespread online backlash.
The short ad was created with the help of AI video tools and was originally published publicly for McDonald's Netherlands back on 6 December.
Social Media Response and Removal
Soon after it aired, commenters denounced the employment of AI in the film. Several labeled it "creepy" and "poorly edited".
"This incident is an key lesson as we examine the effective utilization of AI," said a spokesperson from McDonald's Netherlands.
The commercial was created for McDonald's by Dutch agency TBWA\Neboko and American firm The Sweetshop. It portrayed a series of things that can go wrong over the Christmas break, under the slogan "the worst time of the year".
A Growing Movement of AI Commercials
Commercials that include generative AI have emerged as a rising phenomenon among major brands, especially for the holiday campaign season.
- Coca-Cola has recently launched back-to-back AI-generated Christmas ads.
- Technical Challenges: Because videos created with generative AI are more likely to distort the longer they run, the majority of AI video outputs tend to be only short in length.
- Broader Implications: The ad also sparked concerns about the replacement of human roles in the production industry, with some observers noting it might affect work for camera crews.
Response from the Creators
After the ad being taken down, The Sweetshop's head, Melanie Bridge, spoke in support of the project.
According to her, the production process took "seven weeks" and involved generating "countless iterations" which were then crafted in post-production "just as we would on any traditional production".
"This was not an AI trick," she said. "We consider it a finished piece."
Mixed Audience Sentiment
While the Dutch McDonald's ad was largely panned, the sentiment for other AI-generated holiday ads has been more mixed.
For instance, a recent AI-created holiday spot from Coca-Cola reportedly achieved a 61% "positive sentiment rating" from the public.
However, other businesses have also faced backlash for employing AI in advertising. Luxury fashion house Valentino, for example, was criticized for advertisements that some described as "lazy" and "uncanny".
The situation highlights the ongoing debate within the marketing and creative sectors about the trade-off between new tools and creative integrity.
