McDonald's removes its AI-generated Christmas ad after unexpected backlash from viewers

The fast food chain might have wanted to cut costs but they ended up angering several customers.

PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO

Customers having a meal at a McDonald's (Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by John van Hasselt)

McDonald's is one of the most popular American fast food chains, and it has become a global brand. But while its burgers are tempting enough to pull crowds, the fast food giant's recent policies have upset customers. That is what happened recently as the business put out an ad that was completely generated using artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, viewers didn't appreciate it at all, forcing McDonald's to pull down the commercial from YouTube.

A sign stands outside of a McDonald's restaurant | Getty Images | Photo by Justin Sullivan — A sign stands outside a McDonald's restaurant. (Image source: Getty Images | Photo by Justin Sullivan)

According to a report in Futurism, the company released a 45-second ad that was made for its Netherlands division by the ad agency TBWA\Neboko. The ad talked about how the holiday season might not be the best time of the year for some. Unfortunately, the message in the ad fell flat as viewers simply could not see past the AI-generated content that did not even look good.

The report states that the ad consists of grotesque characters, horrible color grading, and hackneyed AI approximations of basic physics. Scenes that changed at lightning speed overpopulated viewers’ senses, as is the case with most AI-generated videos at the moment, and it was missing the all-important human touch that people expect in an ad about Christmas. It only received 20,000 views on YouTube and faced severe backlash in the comments section.

Image Source: Motorists queue to use the Drive Thru hatch of the fast food restaurant McDonald's,| Photo by Matt Cardy | Getty Images — A McDonald's outlet. (Image source: Getty Images | Photo by Matt Cardy)

As a result, McDonald’s first turned off comments under the video and then took the video down entirely. However, you can still see it here. Some people even took to Instagram to criticize what the company had done. “So a company with that amount of resources couldn’t create a full production with a big team of people to work together and create something actually worthwhile?” a surprised viewer asked.

The ad agency TBWA\Neboko had hired The Sweetshop, a production company, to make the ad, which released a statement about how much hard work had gone into making the ad. “For seven weeks, we hardly slept, with up to 10 of our in-house AI and post specialists at The Gardening Club [our in-house AI engine] working in lockstep with the directors,” Sweetshop’s CEO wrote.

Screenshot showing a scene from the ad. (Image credit: X | SpecterandBride) — Screenshot showing a scene from the ad. (Image source: X | SpecterandBride)

“I don’t see this spot as a novelty or a cute seasonal experiment. To me, it’s evidence of something much bigger: that when craft and technology meet with intention, they can create work that feels genuinely cinematic. So no – AI didn’t make this film. We did.” Sweetshop also said that they had generated thousands of takes and edited them just as a high-craft production would require. Unfortunately, people who watched the ad did not care.

It did not matter at all in the end, as McDonald’s was left with no choice but to pull the ad off YouTube after the backlash it faced.

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