New McDonald's Christmas AI ad is causing a stir. “It's the most terrible time of the year”

First, there was Coca-Cola’s 2025 AI Christmas ad that had everyone laughing, mostly because it was a visual mess. The truck kept changing shape, and the number of wheels kept shifting too, sometimes showing up to ten different setups in under a minute. People called it “sloppy and lazy.” Now, there’s a new contender for that title: McDonald’s has just released a fully AI-generated Christmas ad of its own.

McDonald’s AI Christmas ad – Stress, chaos, and a little too much uncanny valley

McDonald’s Netherlands released a holiday ad made entirely with AI, showing December at its most chaotic instead of the usual festive magic. The ad leans into all the stress, burnout, and holiday madness people actually feel, making it more relatable than picture-perfect. Created by TBWA\NEBOKO, it exaggerates hectic holiday scenes that would be tough or pricey to shoot for real, with McDonald’s positioned as a little bit of comfort in the middle of the chaos.

The ad is available to watch on YouTube, but the comments are turned off.

People have been roasting the ad for looking creepy, blurry, and just plain uncanny – some even say it’s worse than Coca-Cola’s infamous AI Christmas ad. The whole “holidays are the worst” vibe came off as way too cynical and depressing, especially from a fast-food chain promoting itself as a comfort escape. The most talked-about part, though, is that the studio behind it claimed they worked hard writing AI prompts and refining the shots, insisting that AI didn’t make this film, they did.

AI can be useful as a practical tool in certain situations, but as a replacement for human creativity, it clearly falls short. It’s not just video game developers who think AI is overhyped – actor Benedict Cumberbatch has said that in filmmaking, AI could strip away the flaws and imperfections that make art meaningful. And when it comes to AI-generated clips trying to look realistic, you can usually tell right away that they’re fake.

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• AI / Artificial Intelligence