McDonald's AI Christmas Ad Under Fire, Creators Defend It, Say They 'Hardly Slept For Weeks Writing Prompts'

Fast-food giant McDonald’s is facing backlash after releasing an AI-generated Christmas advertisement. The studio behind the ad said they "hardly slept" for weeks while creating the advertisement.

US-based ad agency TBWA partnered with an international team of AI specialists and production company The Sweetshop to bring the McDonald's Netherlands AI-generated Christmas ad concept to life. According to the online site Culture Crave, the team said they were up for weeks "writing AI prompts and refining the shots". 

On the development, The Sweetshop CEO Melanie Bridge was cited as saying by LLB Online: "'AI didn't make' McDonald's Christmas Ad. We Did."

Bridge defended the advertisement, noting that the script was designed for AI, not as a gimmick, but because producing it in live action would have required a huge budget.

"When McDonald’s Netherlands came to us with a comedic Christmas campaign made entirely with AI, it felt like a great challenge…From day one, we knew this couldn't be an "AI experiment." It had to feel like a film shaped by directors….The fact that the medium happened to be AI was almost incidental. Craft was the point," the CEO said.

Following the release of the advertisement, the fast food chain is facing public backlash as viewers remain divided on AI-generated content.

Comments have been turned off on YouTube, preventing viewers from sharing their opinions. However, people continue to use other platforms as they question the role of AI in creative work. 

"'Our fingers hurt from typing prompts'. AI bros are some of the most unserious people on the planet," a user commented on X.

A user sarcastically claimed that he was behind the McDonald’s AI Christmas ad.

"It's a lot harder than people think! Prompts that my team used include: -make it funny, make it epic AND funny, funnier!!!" the user said on X.

Other users also echoed similar sentiments, with one of them taking a dig at the quality of food provided by McDonald’s.

"I mean, they serve artificial food, right?" a person said.