McDonald's has removed a Christmas advert made via Artificial Intelligence after receiving widespread criticism on social media.
The brief film was produced with the help of AI video tools and was first released publicly for the Dutch branch of McDonald's back on 6 December.
Viewer Reaction and Decision to Pull
Shortly after its release, commenters lambasted the employment of AI in the advert. Several labeled it "creepy" and "poorly edited".
"This incident is an valuable lesson as we explore the appropriate application of Artificial Intelligence," stated a spokesperson from McDonald's Netherlands.
The commercial was created for McDonald's by Netherlands-based company TBWA\Neboko and American production company The Sweetshop. It portrayed a series of situations that often go badly over the holidays, under the theme "the most terrible time of the year".
The Trend of AI-Generated Ads
Commercials that feature AI-created content have emerged as a growing trend among large corporations, especially for the Christmas period.
- Coca-Cola has recently launched consecutive AI-created Christmas commercials.
- Technical Challenges: Since videos made using current AI video tools are prone to become unstable the longer they run, the majority of AI video outputs tend to be roughly short in length.
- Industry Concerns: The ad also raised worries about job displacement in the creative sector, with some observers stating it might reduce work for production staff.
Response from the Production Company
After the video's removal, The Sweetshop's CEO, Melanie Bridge, spoke in support of the advert.
According to her, the production process required "over a month and a half" and involved generating "numerous versions" which were then edited during the edit "in the same way we would on any traditional production".
"This was not an AI trick," Bridge asserted. "We consider it a finished piece."
Mixed Public Reception
While the McDonald's ad was largely panned, the reception for other AI-assisted holiday ads has been varied.
For instance, a recent AI-created holiday ad from another major brand reportedly received a 61% "positive sentiment rating" from the public.
However, other businesses have likewise faced scrutiny for employing the technique in advertising. Italian brand Valentino, for example, was lambasted for advertisements that some described as "lazy" and "disturbing".
The incident underscores the evolving conversation within the marketing and production sectors about the balance between AI efficiency and audience reception.
