MCDONALD’S HAS PULLED a Christmas advert which was made using Artificial Intelligence (AI) after it faced criticism online.

The 45-second AI ad was released on the McDonald’s Netherlands YouTube channel on 6 December.

But three days later, it was taken down amid a growing backlash online.

McDonald's has released an AI-generated Christmas ad

The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'

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Featuring the lyric “It’s the most terrible time of the year”, the ad depicted people running into Christmas related mishaps, from irate shoppers to decoration disasters.

It ends with a couple sitting inside a McDonald’s restaurant to the lyrics of: “So you flee from the madness, the lights and the cheer and hide out in McDonald’s till January’s here.”

Coca-Cola recently faced criticism for turning to AI for its Christmas adverts, but social media users have said the McDonald’s ad is even worse.

Film critic Richard E. Roeper remarked: “If they were going for creepy, depressing, deeply unfunny, clumsily shot, poorly edited, and inauthentic — nailed it!”

Another user on X said: “McDonald’s unveiled what has to be the most god-awful ad I’ve seen this year – worse than Coca-Cola’s.

They added: “Fully AI-generated, that’s one. Looks repulsive, that’s two. More cynical about Christmas than the Grinch, that’s three.”

The ad has also been criticised for the impact it could have on jobs within the industry, with one person commenting under the now-deleted advert: “No actors, no camera team. Welcome to the future of filmmaking. And it sucks.”

In a statement to BBC News yesterday, McDonald’s Netherlands remarked that the backlash “serves as an important learning as we explore the effective use of AI”.

McDonald’s Netherlands added that the ad was meant to “reflect the stressful moments that can occur during the holidays”.

However, we notice – based on the social comments and international media coverage – that for many guests this period is ‘the most wonderful time of the year’.

The advert was created by Dutch company TBWA\Neboko and US production company The Sweetshop.

Despite the criticism, The Sweetshop’s chief executive Melanie Bridge defended the AI ad.

In a now-deleted statement, she said the team “hardly slept” for the “seven weeks” it took to make the advert and that “every shot travelled through a rigorously engineered toolchain”.

She added: “AI didn’t make this film. We did.”