McDonald’s aimed to tap into the heart of the holiday hustle and bustle with a new AI-generated commercial. Instead, it found itself at the center of an online backlash.
The ad, which has since been removed by the company, portrays shoppers navigating holiday chaos, mishaps, messes and stress, before highlighting the peace and ease a McDonald’s meal can bring.
“It’s the most terrible marketing decision of the year. Congratulations,” one Instagram user wrote.
In a statement to BBC News, McDonald’s Netherlands said the video was intended to “reflect the stressful moments that can occur during the holidays in the Netherlands.” The company added it recognizes “that for many of our guests, the season is ‘the most wonderful time of the year.”
Ultimately, the company decided to pull the ad altogether.
“This moment serves as an important learning as we explore the effective use of AI,” the company added.
The content was created by U.S. production company The Sweetshop Films and Dutch advertising agency TBWA/Neboko.
Sweetshop Films CEO Melanie Bridge defended the ad in a now-deleted LinkedIn post, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
“It’s never about replacing craft, it’s about expanding the toolbox. The vision, the taste, the leadership … that will always be human,” Bridge wrote, according to AFP.
“And here’s the part people don’t see: the hours that went into this job far exceeded a traditional shoot. Ten people, five weeks, full-time.”
Online reactions were largely critical. Users on X called the AI advert “unsettling,” “creepy,” “poorly edited” and “inauthentic.”
Much of the criticism focused on the ad’s tone.
One user said the ad “demonizes the fun parts of the holiday while promoting commercialization that ruined Christmas in the first place, shameless.”
McDonald’s experience highlights a growing tension in modern advertising: as brands turn to artificial intelligence to shorten timelines and cut costs, they are being met with unexpected backlash from consumers and creatives.
Coca-Cola has become one of the most prominent — and controversial — case studies in AI advertising. In 2024, the beverage giant faced significant backlash after releasing an AI-generated holiday commercial that paid homage to its iconic 1995 ad “Holidays Are Coming.” While the original featured real actors and physical Coca-Cola trucks, the AI remake replaced them with computer-generated people, animals and objects.
Online users described the ad as “soulless” and “devoid of any actual creativity,” as NBC News reported at the time. Hollywood writer Alex Hirsch critiqued the company: “Coca-Cola is red because it’s made from the blood of out-of-work artists.”
Despite the criticism, Coca-Cola leadership has remained firm in its stance that AI will play a role in advertising. “The genie is out of the bottle,” Pratik Thakar, Coca-Cola’s head of generative AI, told The Hollywood Reporter. “And you’re not going to put it back in.”
This year, Coca-Cola tried again, releasing an AI-assisted holiday ad featuring generated animals throughout the commercial, with only a single human, Santa Claus, appearing at the very end. Thakar acknowledged the previous year’s backlash but emphasized improvements.
“Last year people criticized the craftsmanship. But this year the craftsmanship is ten times better,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “There will be people who criticize — we cannot keep everyone 100 percent happy,” he added. “But if the majority of consumers see it in a positive way it’s worth going forward.”
A report from Social Sprout found that Coca-Cola’s AI-generated advert earned a 61% positive sentiment rating from online commenters, the report also citing it has become the “most talked-about festive campaign on social media.”
University of Michigan marketing professor Marcus Collins told NBC News that the growing use of AI in advertising reflects a basic business reality.
“It’s a push for marketing efficiency,” Collins said. ”How do we create more with less? That’s just business 101.”
Behind the scenes, many companies have already been using AI in less visible ways. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Joe Park, chief digital and technology officer at Yum Brands — the parent company of Taco Bell and KFC — said AI-powered programs help tailor promotional emails and offers to individual customers. The company’s early trials boosted engagement by delivering “the relevant offers at the right time.”
As Forbes summed up in November, the debate may ultimately miss the point: “In the end, the real question is whether an ad provides meaningful experience — not whether a machine helped make it.”