McDonald's has pulled a holiday advertisement produced with Artificial Intelligence following encountering considerable online backlash.
The brief film was produced via AI-generated video and was first released on the YouTube channel for McDonald's Netherlands back on 6 December.
Social Media Reaction and Removal
Shortly after its release, viewers on social media lambasted the employment of AI in the advert. Several described it as "disturbing" and "poorly edited".
"This experience serves as an valuable learning as we explore the effective application of AI," said a statement from McDonald's Netherlands.
The commercial was developed for McDonald's by Netherlands-based company TBWA\Neboko and American production company The Sweetshop. It depicted various situations that often go badly over the holidays, under the tagline "the worst time of the year".
The Phenomenon of AI Commercials
Commercials that include generative AI have become a increasing phenomenon among major companies, particularly for the Christmas campaign season.
- Coca-Cola has also released back-to-back AI-created holiday commercials.
- Technical Challenges: Since segments created with current AI video tools are prone to become unstable the more extended they are, the majority of such clips tend to be roughly a few seconds in length.
- Industry Concerns: The ad also sparked concerns about automation in the advertising industry, with some critics pointing out it might reduce work for camera crews.
Defense from the Production Company
Following the commercial being pulled, The Sweetshop's head, Melanie Bridge, spoke in support of the advert.
She stated, the development took "seven weeks" and involved generating "thousands of takes" which were then edited in post-production "just as we would on any standard production".
"This wasn't an experiment," she said. "We consider it a finished piece."
Divisive Audience Sentiment
While the Dutch McDonald's ad was largely panned, the response for other AI-assisted holiday ads has been divisive.
For instance, a consecutive AI-generated Christmas spot from another major brand reportedly achieved a 61% "favorable response" from online commenters.
However, other businesses have also encountered scrutiny for using AI in marketing. Luxury fashion house Valentino, for example, was lambasted for advertisements that some called "lazy" and "disturbing".
The episode illustrates the evolving conversation within the marketing and production sectors about the trade-off between technological innovation and human craftsmanship.
