McDonald’s Christmas commercial sparks controversy

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 12. 10. 11:47

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McDonald’s in the Netherlands has withdrawn its Christmas commercial this year after the short film created with artificial intelligence caused significant outrage on social media. The Sweetshop studio, which created the campaign on behalf of TBWA\NEBOKO, used AI-based video technology, but the end result was considered by most viewers to be both content-related and aesthetically objectionable.

The short film was at first glance unusual in terms of visuals, with choppy movements and an uncertain atmosphere, which was further reinforced by the distorted melody used as a parody of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. According to the audience, the commercial did not evoke either the warmth of Christmas or the brand’s generally popular humor: the scenes were strange, and the physical logic was also broken in several places – for example, in the form of a collapsing Christmas tree or a family carefreely watching a flaming table.

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’
Comments have been turned off on YouTube pic.twitter.com/Es5ROvI7n2
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) December 8, 2025

The producers of the production tried to defend the concept in a long, technical statement, emphasizing that the film is not “AI-generated content,” but the result of a production process supported by a team of ten professionals with AI tools. However, the explanation did not alleviate the dissatisfaction: according to viewer feedback, the problem was not the fact of using the technology, but the low quality of the end result.

The campaign also received further criticism because its basic message – a cynical tone depicting Christmas as a “sloppy time” – is a communication approach that some consumers believe is no longer working.

The removal of the advertisement clearly shows that AI-based creative content still carries a significant reputational risk for brands today, especially when the technology is visibly at the expense of the content.