McDonald’s Netherlands recently put out a holiday season adevertisement on their YouTube channel, made using generative AI. The video quickly received backlash, leading to the fast-food chain taking the video down. Now, many users have turned to AI to create reworked parodies of the ad.
McDonald’s faces backlash for AI commercial
Recently, McDonald’s Netherlands reportedly posted an AI-generated video for a holiday season commercial on YouTube. The now-deleted video was quick to recieve criticism. The McDonald’s Netherlands account uploaded the 45-second video to YouTube on December 6, showcasing a bunch of AI-generated clips portraying holiday mishaps.
In a statement to BBC News, McDonald’s Netherlands mentioned that they aimed to “reflect the stressful moments that can occur during the holidays” through the video. “This moment serves as an important learning as we explore the effective use of AI,” it reads, as they decided to take the advert down.
As per Futurism, the CEO of The Sweetshop Films, the production company hired by TBWA\Neboko to make the ad, said in a statement, “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.”
A user on X (formerly Twitter) posted a still from the video, writing, “corporations using ai to advertise creates an uncanny slop that is just disturbing and soulless and somehow they never seem to expect the backlash it creates.”
Among other such reactions, one that stood out came from 80 Level Head of Content, Theodore McKenzie. He posted the video, writing, “McDonald’s unveiled what has to be the most god-awful ad I’ve seen this year – worse than Coca-Cola’s. Fully AI-generated, that’s one. Looks repulsive, that’s two. More cynical about Christmas than the Grinch, that’s three.” As AI continues to seep into mainstream advertising, the backlash highlights growing concerns over authenticity, creativity, and the human touch in brand storytelling.
Originally reported by Elton Fernades on Mandatory.
