McDonald’s advertisement withdrawn after massive criticism

McDonald’s has removed a Christmas campaign from its Dutch platforms after a new commercial was met with strong online opposition.

The ad, which was created with the help of artificial intelligence, was called “the most awful commercial of the year” by viewers and was removed from the chain’s YouTube channel just three days after it was launched.

According to the BBC, which also quotes McDonald’s as saying that the experience was an “important learning experience” as the company continues to explore the applications of artificial intelligence in marketing.

Mischief and confusion in the spirit of Christmas

With the tagline “the worst time of the year”, the ad depicted various Christmas problems with the aim of encouraging viewers to find peace in a McDonald’s restaurant.

However, both the character design and image compositions were criticized for being creepy and poorly composed.

McDonald’s has launched an AI-generated Christmas ad

The studio behind it says they “barely slept” for weeks while writing AI messages and tweaking the images – “AI didn’t make this movie. We did

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Several commentators described the characters as “unreal” and “weird” and questioned whether the movie was man-made at all.

The debate quickly escalated on social media, with many pointing to the use of artificial intelligence as the reason for the visual look.

Despite the criticism, McDonald’s and its partners have defended the production.

Producer rejects AI: “It’s a real movie

However, the production company Sweetshop, which is behind the commercial, denies that the movie is generated solely by artificial intelligence.

According to company boss Melanie Bridge, the production took seven weeks and she describes the work as intense and thorough:

– “The team hardly slept,” she told the BBC.

Bridge emphasizes that the film is based on “thousands of takes” and follows methods used in any high-production film.

– “This is not an AI trick. It’s a movie,” she says.

Several major brands are currently experimenting with artificial intelligence in their advertising.

Coca-Cola, for example, has created a Christmas ad with AI elements, but it hasn’t triggered the same reactions as McDonald’s experiment in the Netherlands.