The global fast-food chain has pulled a holiday advertisement made with generative AI following receiving significant online backlash.
The brief ad was created with the help of AI-generated video and was first released on the YouTube channel for the Dutch branch of McDonald's back on 6 December.
Viewer Reaction and Decision to Pull
Shortly after its release, audiences online lambasted the use of AI in the advert. Many labeled it "disturbing" and "jarringly assembled".
"This moment represents an important learning as we examine the effective utilization of Artificial Intelligence," stated a representative from McDonald's Netherlands.
The commercial was developed for McDonald's by Dutch agency TBWA\Neboko and American production company The Sweetshop. It depicted various scenarios that can go wrong over the festive season, with the tagline "the most terrible time of the year".
A Growing Trend of AI-Generated Ads
Commercials that feature AI tools have become a growing phenomenon among prominent companies, notably for the Christmas season.
- Coca-Cola has recently released back-to-back AI-generated Christmas commercials.
- Inherent Limitations: Because clips produced with generative AI are susceptible to become unstable the longer they run, most AI video outputs tend to be about a few seconds in length.
- Broader Implications: The video also raised concerns about job displacement in the production sector, with some critics stating it could negatively impact opportunities for actors.
Response from the Production Company
Following the video's removal, a producer's CEO, Melanie Bridge, spoke in support of the project.
Bridge claimed, the creation took "seven weeks" and involved creating "thousands of takes" which were then edited in post-production "in the same way we would on any traditional production".
"This wasn't an AI gimmick," she commented. "It was a proper commercial."
Divisive Audience Sentiment
While the Dutch McDonald's commercial was mostly criticized, the reception for some AI-assisted holiday ads has been divisive.
For instance, a recent AI-created holiday ad from Coca-Cola reportedly garnered a significant "positive sentiment rating" from viewers.
However, several companies have also encountered scrutiny for using the technique in marketing. Luxury fashion house Valentino, for example, was lambasted for advertisements that some described as "lazy" and "disturbing".
The incident illustrates the ongoing debate within the marketing and creative sectors about the trade-off between new tools and audience reception.
