McDonald's Netherlands removed an advertisement generated entirely by artificial intelligence within three days of its release following widespread social media criticism. The 45-second video, titled "The Most Terrible Time of the Year," was posted to the company's Dutch YouTube channel in early December and depicted a series of AI-generated Christmas mishaps, including a man breaking bones while ice skating and a woman being dragged by a tram, set to a reworked version of the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year."
The commercial was produced for McDonald's Netherlands by US production company The Sweetshop Films and Dutch advertising agency TBWA/Neboko. Social media users criticized the ad's distinctly AI-generated appearance, describing the characters' movements as unnatural and the overall visual style as unsettling. Commentators on social platform X used terms including "unsettling," "creepy," and "poorly edited" to describe the spot, and some users criticized the ad's tone as overly negative for a holiday campaign regardless of its production method.
In a statement to NBC News, McDonald's Netherlands said the advertisement "was intended to reflect the stressful moments that can occur during the holidays" but acknowledged that for many customers the season represents "the most wonderful time of the year," and confirmed the ad had been removed from platforms. Sweetshop Films CEO Melanie Bridge defended the production in a LinkedIn post, saying the project involved ten people working full time over five weeks and that AI was used to expand the creative toolbox rather than replace human decision-making, according to Agence France-Presse.
The incident followed a similar backlash the previous year against an AI-generated Coca-Cola holiday advertisement that critics described as "soulless" and lacking emotional warmth. In its own subsequent holiday campaign, Coca-Cola shifted away from AI-generated human characters in favor of animated animals.
Source: NBC News – https://www.nbcnews.com/world/europe/mcdonalds-ai-generated-christmas-advert-social-media-backlash-rcna248590