Overview
- The ad was commissioned for McDonald’s Netherlands and created by TBWA\NEBOKO with production company The Sweetshop and its AI unit The Gardening.club.
- McDonald’s first disabled YouTube comments and then delisted the video, though copies continue to circulate on social platforms.
- Set to lyrics calling it “the most terrible time of the year,” the spot ends by urging viewers to hide out in McDonald’s until January.
- Critics condemned the quality and tone, pointing to uncanny visuals, glitchy body movements, and a message seen as cynical toward the holidays.
- Sweetshop CEO Melanie Bridge defended the process, citing seven weeks of work, thousands of generated takes, more man-hours than a traditional shoot, and the claim, “AI didn’t make this film. We did.”