‘Ruined my Christmas spirit’: McDonald’s removes AI-generated ad after backlash

The Guardian - World NewsCenter-LeftEN 2 min read 100% complete by Agence France-PresseDecember 11, 2025 at 03:01 AM

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

McDonald's Netherlands removed an AI-generated Christmas advertisement after it received significant online criticism. The ad, titled "the most terrible time of the year," depicted chaotic holiday scenes and suggested retreating to McDonald's until January. Social media users expressed negative reactions, criticizing the use of AI and claiming it ruined their Christmas spirit. While the company intended to portray the stressful aspects of the holidays, they acknowledged that many view the season positively. The production company defended the use of AI as a tool to expand creative possibilities, but others argued it displaced human actors and traditional production roles. This incident follows similar backlash against Coca-Cola's AI-generated holiday ads.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Sweetshop Films ×260% Netherlands ×370% McDonald's ×680%

Keywords

ai-generated ad 100% mcdonald's 90% christmas 80% backlash 70% artificial intelligence 60% advertising 50% social media 50% netherlands 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Negative

Score: -0.30

Source Transparency

Source

The Guardian - World News

Political Lean

Center-Left (-0.40)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Netherlands

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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ai-generated ad mcdonald's christmas backlash artificial intelligence advertising social media netherlands

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