McDonald’s AI-Generated Christmas Ad Sparks Outrage and Backlash Online
A new McDonald’s Christmas commercial for the Netherlands, created entirely by artificial intelligence, has ignited a firestorm of criticism online, with many users deeming it “repulsive,” “creepy,” and deeply unsettling. The campaign marks the fast-food giant as the latest major corporation to experiment with fully AI-generated advertising, following a similar, though less controversial, effort by Coca-Cola.
The advertisement,commissioned for the 2025 holiday season,is the result of a collaboration between U.S. agency TBWA, a team of international AI specialists, and production company The Sweetshop. It depicts a series of Christmas mishaps – presents tumbling from car roofs, exploding Christmas trees, and carol singers braving harsh weather – all brought to life by AI-generated people and families.
the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative. “McDonald’s unveiled what has to be the most god-awful ad I’ve seen this year,” one user wrote, sharing the clip widely on social media. Another bluntly stated, “Wow this looks like f s*,” while a third accused companies of “racing to see who can piss off the most amount of people with the lowest amount of effort.”
Many viewers pointed to the ad’s unsettling aesthetic, noting the unnatural movements and occasionally “rogue body parts” that betray its AI origins. One commenter described it as “creepy, depressing, deeply unfunny, clumsily shot, poorly edited, and inauthentic.” The campaign also features a darkly ironic twist on the classic Christmas carol “It’s the Most Splendid Time of the Year,” altering the lyrics to “the most terrible time of the year.”
The ad’s messaging also drew sharp criticism. “Not even considering the ai slop,the messaging of the ad is literally ‘f christmas,f your family,eat mcdonald’s instead’,” one social media user observed.Another described the advertisement as “a soulless AI advertisement to promote your slop and to denigrate the Christmas time [that] seems a bit too on the nose and just slightly demonic.”
The response from The Sweetshop, the production company involved, also fueled the controversy. According to Little black Book, the company claimed its staff had “hardly slept” for weeks while “writing AI prompts” for the commercial. This statement drew further scorn, with one user lamenting that “it genuinely pains me when reading about AI and people use the phrase ‘writing AI prompts’ like it’s something to be proud of artistically.” Another declared, “Cannot believe our advancement of society is the plague of AI.”
However, Melanie Bridge, director at The Sweetshop, defended the project, asserting that AI was used to “expand the toolbox,” not “replace craft.” In an Instagram post sharing the commercial, she emphasized that “the vision, the taste, the leadership… that will always be human.” She further explained that the project involved ten people working full-time for five weeks, requiring “blood, sweat, tears, and an honestly ridiculous amount of coaxing to get the models to behave and to honor the creative brief shot by shot.”
The backlash surrounding the McDonald’s ad raises broader questions about the role of AI in advertising and the potential for these technologies to alienate consumers. While AI offers new creative possibilities, this case demonstrates the importance of ensuring that AI-generated content resonates with audiences and aligns with brand values.
The Autonomous has contacted McDonald’s and The Sweetshop for further comment on the backlash.
