McDonald's has pulled a holiday commercial produced with Artificial Intelligence following receiving significant criticism on social media.
The 45-second spot was developed using AI video tools and was initially published on the YouTube channel for McDonald's Netherlands on 6 December.
Social Media Reaction and Decision to Pull
Following its publication, viewers on social media lambasted the implementation of AI in the film. Many described it as "uncanny" and "poorly edited".
"This experience represents an key learning as we investigate the effective use of generative technology," commented a representative from McDonald's Netherlands.
The commercial was developed for McDonald's by Dutch company TBWA\Neboko and American firm The Sweetshop. It portrayed a series of situations that often go badly over the holidays, using the tagline "the most terrible time of the year".
The Trend of AI-Generated Ads
Campaigns that include AI tools have become a increasing phenomenon among prominent companies, particularly for the holiday period.
- Coca-Cola has recently released consecutive AI-created holiday commercials.
- Technical Challenges: Because segments created using generative AI are prone to degrade the longer they run, the majority of such clips tend to be roughly six to 10 seconds in length.
- Industry Concerns: The ad also raised fears about automation in the creative sector, with some commenters noting it might affect work for camera crews.
Response from the Production Company
Following the video's removal, a producer's head, Melanie Bridge, defended the advert.
She stated, the creation required "seven weeks" and involved producing "thousands of takes" which were then edited in post-production "just as we would on any high-craft production".
"This wasn't just an experiment," she commented. "The result was a film."
Mixed Audience Sentiment
While the McDonald's commercial was predominantly panned, the sentiment for other AI-assisted holiday ads has been varied.
For instance, a consecutive AI-created holiday ad from Coca-Cola according to analysis achieved a significant "positive sentiment rating" from viewers.
However, other businesses have likewise encountered backlash for using the technique in advertising. Italian brand Valentino, for example, was lambasted for advertisements that critics called "cheap" and "uncanny".
The episode illustrates the continuing discussion within the marketing and production industries about the balance between new tools and audience reception.
