McDonald's released an AI-generated Christmas commercial titled "The Most Terrible Time of the Year" in December 2025, then withdrew it within days after intense public criticism. The ad depicted a string of holiday mishaps and was built using generative AI tools, with a team of up to 10 in-house AI and post-production specialists producing and refining the shots.
Viewers and reviewers criticized the spot's visual quality, citing continuity errors and an unsettling look. The A.V. Club described the reaction to the ad as immediate and widespread. McDonald's turned off comments on the YouTube upload before removing the video entirely, though copies circulated on social media after the takedown.
The production team defended the effort in a statement, saying staff "hardly slept" while writing prompts and refining shots over several weeks. That statement was also removed after users argued the workload described made the case for hiring human creators instead of generating the ad with AI. One social media user summed up the reaction, calling the ad "offensive from every angle."
McDonald's has not issued a broader statement about its AI advertising strategy following the withdrawal. The episode followed similar backlash faced by Coca-Cola over AI-generated holiday ads in 2024 and 2025, and preceded comparable criticism of AI campaigns from Valentino and Gucci in early 2026.
Source: The Cool Down via Yahoo News - https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/mcdonalds-pulls-controversial-christmas-commercial-044500195.html