McDonald's Takes Down AI Christmas Ad After Viewers Say It 'Ruined My Christmas Spirit'

Following backlash for using AI in their Christmas Ad, McDonald's has finally taken down the video. This time, the pushback did not just come from the fact that they used AI.

The AI-generated ad called 'the most terrible time of the year' shows Christmas chaos with Santa being stuck in a traffic jam and a gift-filled Dutch cyclist falling in the snow.

According to The Guardian, the message is to go to a McDonald's until January and let the 'stressful' season pass.

Users left comments on the ad, saying, 'This commercial single-handedly ruined my Christmas spirit'.

Explaining their decision to remove the ad, McDonald's Netherlands said in a statement on Wednesday that it was intended to show the stressful moments during the holidays in the Netherlands. 'However, we notice – based on the social comments and international media coverage – that for many guests this period is 'the most wonderful time of the year''.

People immediately flooded their announcement to remove the ad with rejoicing, with one comment, 'Good riddance to AI slop'.

Pushback Against AI Ads

Besides the messaging, people were also calling out McDonald's for using AI to create ads, joining Coca-Cola, which also received flak for releasing its own AI-generated holiday ad recently. The major difference is that the beverage's newest offering features mostly AI-generated images of adorable animals in a snowy setting, while avoiding close-ups of humans.

Critics of the McDonald's ad specifically noted that despite saying 'AI didn't make this film. We did', they took the time to make prompts instead of hiring an actual professional to create a realistic ad.

The company behind the ad, Sweetshop Films, defended the use of AI. They explained that they were not intending to replace human craft, but rather to expand the use of available tools.

The line saying it's not AI who made the film also points to the fact that they used human 'vision, taste, leadership'.

'And here's the part people don't see: the hours that went into this job far exceeded a traditional shoot. Ten people, five weeks, full-time,' Sweetshop Films' chief executive clarified.

However, that too triggered online discussions.

Emlyn Davies, from the independent production company Bomper Studio, commented on the LinkedIn post, 'What about the humans who would have been in it, the actors, the choir?'

According to Davies, the number of people working on creating AI-generated ads is still a 'tiny amount' compared to when a company actually shoots them in live action. This means hiring a videographer, actors, glam team, singers, production, directors, and more actual people.

McDonald's Refused Criticism At First

The AI-generated video had been online for a long time before it was axed. Before that, the fast-food company already turned off comment sections.

But this did not stop the public from criticising the ad. On mainstream social media platforms, users called the ad 'creepy', noting the soulless element that an AI gives to the video.

However, while others made fun of the 'AI bros' who made a 'fake video for a fake food', many expressed concern that this could be the future of filmmaking: hurting your fingers from typing prompts rather than hiring actual people.

Most also couldn't find a reason why McDonald's released a 'cheap' AI-generated ad, given that it generates billions of dollars in revenue each day.

The video is no longer officially uploaded online, but others were able to save the ad in low quality.