The global fast-food chain has taken down a Christmas commercial produced via AI after facing significant online backlash.
The brief film was produced with the help of AI video tools and was first published on the YouTube channel for the Dutch branch of McDonald's on 6 December.
Social Media Reaction and Decision to Pull
Following its publication, viewers on social media denounced the employment of AI in the film. A number of called it "uncanny" and "jarringly assembled".
"This experience is an valuable lesson as we examine the effective application of AI," commented a statement from the company.
The commercial was produced for the brand by Netherlands-based company TBWA\Neboko and US production company The Sweetshop. It portrayed various scenarios that can go wrong over the festive season, using the slogan "the worst time of the year".
The Movement of AI-Generated Ads
Adverts that incorporate AI tools have become a rising trend among prominent corporations, notably for the Christmas campaign season.
- Coca-Cola has similarly launched back-to-back AI-created holiday commercials.
- Technical Challenges: As clips made with current AI video tools are susceptible to degrade the longer they run, the majority of AI video outputs tend to be only short in length.
- Industry Concerns: The ad also sparked concerns about the replacement of human roles in the creative sector, with some commenters stating it might reduce work for actors.
Defense from the Creators
Following the ad being taken down, a producer's chief executive, Melanie Bridge, defended the advert.
Bridge claimed, the production process took "over a month and a half" and involved creating "thousands of takes" which were then edited during the edit "in the same way we would on any standard production".
"This wasn't an AI trick," she commented. "The result was a proper commercial."
Mixed Public Reception
While the Dutch McDonald's ad was mostly criticized, the sentiment for some AI-generated campaigns has been more mixed.
For instance, a consecutive AI-created holiday ad from another major brand according to analysis garnered a significant "positive sentiment rating" from the public.
However, other businesses have likewise received scrutiny for employing the technique in their campaigns. Luxury fashion house Valentino, for example, was criticized for advertisements that critics described as "lazy" and "uncanny".
The episode underscores the evolving debate within the advertising and production industries about the trade-off between AI efficiency and human craftsmanship.
