McDonald’s Netherlands Pulls AI-Generated Christmas Ad After Backlash
McDonald’s Netherlands has withdrawn an AI-generated Christmas advertisement titled 'the most terrible time of the year' following online backlash. The campaign, created by Sweetshop Films and developed with generative AI, depicted holiday chaos in the Netherlands, including scenes of Santa stuck in a traffic jam and a Dutch cyclist laden with gifts slipping on snow. The ad conveyed a message encouraging viewers to take refuge at McDonald’s until January.
The production involved ten people working full-time over five weeks. McDonald’s Netherlands explained the ad aimed to portray stressful holiday moments while acknowledging that many guests consider the period the most wonderful time of the year. However, online criticism denounced the AI-generated ad for spoiling the Christmas spirit and expressed opposition to the AI approach. Emlyn Davies of Bomper Studio raised concerns over the potential impact on human performers traditionally involved in shoots, although supporters noted the comparatively small team size versus conventional live-action production.
In a similar trend, Coca-Cola recently released its own AI-generated holiday advertisement, which has also faced backlash. Coca-Cola’s ad avoids close-ups of humans and instead features AI-generated animals.
