McDonald’s Pulls AI-Generated Christmas Ad After Public Backlash

McDonald’s has withdrawn an AI-generated Christmas advertisement after the fast-food giant faced intense criticism online.

Released on Dec. 6 on McDonald’s Netherlands’ YouTube channel, the 45-second spot depicted a series of holiday mishaps such as stormy weather, disastrous dinners, a collapsing Christmas tree and burnt cookies, set to a twisted version of the classic holiday song, turning it into “the most terrible time of the year.”

The ad concluded with the suggestion to “Hide out in McDonald’s until January’s here.”

But the message wasn’t the main issue. Viewers overwhelmingly condemned the ad for its AI-generated visuals, accusing the brand of pushing “AI slop.” Many called the spot “creepy” and “lazy,” expressing frustration at companies replacing human creatives to cut costs.

“No actors, no camera team, no light, no sound, just probably one guy… battling with an AI prompt,” one Instagram user wrote. “Welcome to the future of filmmaking.”

Created by Dutch agency TBWA\Neboko and U.S. production company The Sweetshop, the filmmakers defended the project.

Sweetshop CEO Melanie Bridge wrote that it took seven weeks and a team of up to 10 specialists to produce, insisting, “This wasn’t an AI trick. It was a film… AI didn’t make this film. We did.”

Yet criticism persisted, with one commenter responding: “It’s still AI slop that’s really creepy to watch.”

McDonald’s acknowledged the controversy, telling the BBC the episode “serves as an important learning” in its use of AI.