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McDonald’s pulled a Christmas ad made by artificial intelligence after viewers deemed it “creepy.”
The 45-second ad, which originally premiered on Saturday on the company’s Netherlands YouTube channel, was set to the Christmas song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, with altered lyrics dubbing it the “most terrible time of the year.” The ad also featured absurd holiday situations such as a Christmas tree exploding in a living room and Santa Claus causing a traffic jam.
McDonald’s initially removed comments for the video before eventually making it private days later.
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The fast food chain confirmed the commercial and its quick removal to Fox News Digital in a statement Wednesday.
“The commercial was produced for McDonald’s Netherlands, but we have decided to remove our AI-generated Christmas advert,” a spokesperson said. “It was intended to reflect the stressful moments that can occur during the holidays in the Netherlands, but we recognize that for many of our guests, the season is ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’ We respect that and remain committed to creating experiences that offer Good Times and Good Food for everyone. This moment serves as an important learning as we explore the effective use of AI.”
Although the video was removed from McDonald’s YouTube channel, clips of the ad circulated widely on social media, drawing mostly negative feedback.
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“If they were going for creepy, depressing, deeply unfunny, clumsily shot, poorly edited, and inauthentic — nailed it!” film critic Richard Roeper wrote.
The Blaze contributor Daniel Horowitz commented, “AI slop is worse than the black death…a digital plague. At least the bubonic plague wasn’t supported by my taxes or taking anyone’s job.”
“It sucks. It’s awful. There’s no artistry. No wit. No charm. No warmth. No humanity. You can tell it’s AI from a million miles away. I hate it. You should hate it. We should relentlessly mock and deride and bully anyone or any company that uses AI like this,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh wrote.
“Even ignoring all the slop this ad is so cynical and unfun,” actor Jon Cartwright commented.
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Advertising agency TBWA and production company The Sweetshop, which created the ad, reportedly defended it in initial statements after its release.
“The hours that went into this job far exceeded a traditional shoot. Ten people, five weeks, full-time. Blood, sweat, tears, and an honestly ridiculous amount of coaxing to get the models to behave and to honor the creative brief shot by shot,” The Sweetshop CEO Melanie Bridge said in a since-deleted comment, according to The New York Post.
Fox News Digital reached out to TBWA and The Sweetshop.
Coca-Cola faced similar backlash in 2024 after releasing an AI-constructed ad for Christmas. The company created a new AI-generated ad as part of its “Holidays are Coming” campaign in November.
