McDonald’s pulls AI-generated Christmas ad after backlash over 'soulless' visuals and holiday chaos

• McDonald’s has stopped running an AI‑generated Christmas commercial
• Viewers complained about its eerie visuals and chaotic style
• There may not be much of a public appetite for AI‑made ads

A McDonald’s Netherlands commercial made with AI has vanished from screens after it provoked an avalanche of mockery and irritation from viewers. Complaints about unsettling visuals and an oddly violent tone for a holiday ad meant the ad for “the most terrible time of the year” only appeared for a few weeks.

Ad agency The Sweetshop produced the AI video using its proprietary engine called The Gardening Club. It combined multiple quick sequences of disastrous moments during the holiday season using slightly off people and settings familiar to AI video viewers. Balloon hands, fireball cookies, and eyes a little too wide proclaimed that holiday stress can only be relieved with ...