After the backlash that greeted Coca-Cola’s AI-generated Christmas ad last month, you’d expect other corporate giants to be more cautious about releasing their own AI-infused efforts.
But no.
McDonald’s Netherlands decided it’d be a really good idea to use generative AI tools to knock together its own festive commercial. But folks didn’t respond well following its release on December 6.
In fact, the criticism was so bad that the company has now pulled the commercial.
The 45-second ad, which runs with the idea that Christmas is “the most terrible time of the year,” depicts various mishaps taking place during the festive period, from Christmas light entanglements to Santa getting stuck in traffic. The solution, according to the ad, is to seek refuge in a McDonald’s.
If at all curious, you can watch it here.
But while AI-generated video is getting better all the time, the odd color grading, not-quite-right body movements, and short clips made the McDonald’s ad an uncomfortable watch for many, along with the fact that these cost-cutting productions are taking the jobs of skilled production crews.
“Please bring back people doing things again,” a commenter on Instagram wrote, while another said, “A $200 billion dollar company who doesn’t even sell real food also can’t make a real commercial.” A commenter on Reddit was a little more blunt, saying simply, “It’s shit.”
The ad was the brainchild of creative agency TBWANeboko, which hired a production company called The Sweetshop to make it, using AI tools.
Following the backlash, The Sweetshop issued a somewhat bizarre statement, shared by Futurism, that appeared to seek some understanding.
“For seven weeks, we hardly slept, with up to 10 of our in-house AI and post specialists at The Gardening Club [our in-house AI engine] working in lockstep with the directors,” The Sweetshop’s CEO said.
“We generated what felt like dailies — thousands of takes — then shaped them in the edit just as we would on any high-craft production. This wasn’t an AI trick. It was a film.”
The statement continued: “I don’t see this spot as a novelty or a cute seasonal experiment. To me, it’s evidence of something much bigger: that when craft and technology meet with intention, they can create work that feels genuinely cinematic. So no — AI didn’t make this film. We did.”
With both Coca-Cola and McDonald’s now having felt the heat over their respective AI ads, it’s going to be interesting to see if other major companies lean into the technology — or steer well clear of it — for their own TV commercials.