The ad was widely condemned as an “AI blunder” and was removed from YouTube just four days after it was posted by McDonald’s in the Netherlands.
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McDonald’s learned the hard way that consumers aren’t always happy with AI-generated commercial ideas after being blown away by holiday ads.
On December 6, McDonald’s in the Netherlands published a 45-second video ad on its official YouTube channel titled “It’s the worst time of the year.” The English ad, a play on the classic Christmas song “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” is a montage of people trying to enjoy the holiday season and failing during a series of unfortunate events.
A “Christmas Vacation”-esque scene of Christmas presents smashing from cars passing under bridges, trees causing property damage and festive food catching fire appears on screen before the long-suffering characters find solace in the sanctuary of a McDonald’s restaurant.
problem? The internet calls this advertising “AI slop.” This is a term coined to describe low-effort, low-quality content generated by AI.
In a statement to USA TODAY on Thursday, Dec. 11, McDonald’s Holland said it had “decided to remove the AI-generated Christmas ad.”
“Although this was intended to reflect the stressful moments that can occur during a Dutch holiday, we recognize that for many of our guests this season is ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’ We respect that and remain committed to creating experiences that bring fun and good food to everyone,” the statement continued.
McDonald’s AI commercial criticized as ‘depressing’ and ‘terrible’
Created by TBWA\Neboko and The Sweetshop, this ad features many of the most hated characteristics of artificial intelligence. Short clips are rapidly spliced together to hide a lack of continuity, creepy appearances, and movement that violates basic physics.
Commenters on the commercial’s reposting had little relent, and McDonald’s in the Netherlands removed the ad a few days later, on Wednesday, December 10th.
“I’m old enough to remember when McDonald’s was the gold standard in advertising. This is an absolutely awful commercial,” a commenter wrote under the video’s post, which was shared on X (formerly Twitter).
Another X user joked, “I’m going to start going to McDonald’s so this ad doesn’t stop me from going there.”
What’s the second biggest problem people had with the commercial?The premise itself.
“AI aside, it’s outrageous that they’re saying, ‘I’m going to sit at McDonald’s alone on Christmas instead of spending time with my family.’ I can’t think of anything more depressing than eating alone at McDonald’s on Christmas Day. Sleeping on a bench seems even darker,” said one X commenter.
“AI-made or not, this is a bad idea commercially. Most people like Christmas. No one wants negative vibes… Don’t blame AI for bad taste,” another user added.
“It was a movie,” the production company said in a now-deleted statement.
Sweet Shop, the company behind the commercial, defended its work even though the ad was removed.
“For seven weeks, we barely slept,” Sweet Shop’s CEO said in a since-deleted post reported by Futurism and Forbes. “We produced what felt like every day, thousands of takes, and shaped them in editing like any highly technical production. This wasn’t an AI trick. It was a movie.”
The statement concludes with, “No, AI didn’t make this movie. We made it.”
“‘Hardly slept’ sounds like an excuse to use when you’re literally just typing prompts. The irony of AI ‘artists’ these days,” one Instagram user responded. Some Internet users criticized the commercial, while others did not. Among them was user
Sweetshop Films and TBWA\NEBOKO did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Thursday, Dec. 11. The website for The Gardening Club, Sweetshop’s in-house AI engine, says it uses AI as a “creative ally” to “sharpen” its work. Other ads shared on TBWA\NEBOKO’s website also address the use of AI, working on a commercial promoting Google’s Gemini.
McDonald’s attempt to leverage AI wasn’t praised, but the use of this technology in advertising doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Coca-Cola once again used AI in its holiday ads this year, prompting similar complaints on the internet.
“Nothing says Christmas better than ‘My dad got fired for letting an AI do his animation for me,'” one YouTube commenter wrote under a Coke ad.
