I was talking to my gf the other day (yes, she’s real) who has a graphic design degree and we both theorized that these companies who use AI video generation still need a graphics design expert in hand so that, that expert can point out the flaws and have them fixed before they start airing the commercials. I’m thinking of that Coca Cola winter truck commercial where the truck changes its appearance in every shot. These companies really think we are that dumb…
this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2025
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I do not understand how people at these advertising agencies are so bad at their actual jobs.
I used to work in an advertising agency, the job is done by humans who go home and watch TV and play video games and generally interact with the rest of the human race on a fairly regular basis. There's no way in hell that they failed to register the public's dissatisfaction with AI. So how do they then sit in a pitch meeting and recommend its use?
I guarantee what happened here is that McDonald's wanted things to be cheap and so wanted to use AI, and the advertising agency just wanted to get McDonald's business so didn't push back on it as hard as they should have done. And look it's now done damage to their brand. They better come out with a statement real quick to clarify that it was McDonald's decision and not theirs, otherwise clients are going to be concerned that they're trying to cut corners.
Part of the job is to tell clients when they're being unreasonable. There was a property developer that we worked with a lot and he was always trying to get us to do deceptive things such as using CGI shots of his housing estate rather than the actual shots because the properties didn't look anything like what was being depicted in the CGI shots. I'm sure if we were doing it today he would be trying to use AI as well. Fortunately my boss was always able to talk him out of these decisions pointing out that it would simply result in him getting a reputation for dishonesty, and would in the long term hurt him.
On the opposite side there is this ads from intermarché, a French supermarket chain, made by real artists.
That's classic.
What a wholrsome message, I wonder why it flopped?
"Screw Christmas, Screw your family, come to McDonalds. We also made this with AI you stupid bitch"
I'm sure McDs and Coke could push out terrible AI ads for the next decade and it wouldn't dampen their sales long term. An initial slump until everyone got over it, maybe. They're global brands that have gotten too damn big to fail.
Honestly not so sure. Cooking at home is cheaper and more accessible than ever with all the recipes available free of charge. Not to mention the global economic slump with aging and (hopefully) declining populations, less people are in a hurry to get to work.
McDonalds was able to get to where it was by offering fast and cheap food because it was more efficient, but that might not last forever. It's only 1 profit minmaxing douchebag away from ruining its reputation with one bad price raise, and trust is easier to gain the first time.
Their reputation is already in the shitter for helping the Trump campaign team get him reelected.
One is left wondering why they even advertise.
For coke I imagine it’s the desire to remain continuously culturally relevant so it remains - the - fizzy sugar water in everyone’s minds. (How effective that actually is I have no idea and I suspect, neither do they).
McDs meanwhile has lost revenue (in part attributed to their price hikes amongst other factors ) and is probably hoping to drive up sales.
Now I'm wondering if their meat is real. Time for me to switch to "Amburgers and Woot Beer" (A&W).
All according to the plan.
Release an AI ad, knowing full well it will cause a lot of headlines and people talking/hating it, based on what happened with the coke ad.
Then remove the ad due to "backlash" and say something like "We listened to you, our dear customers, so sowwy for the AI slop, we the good guys"
BAM! Now you have half the world talking about the ad and making everyone think about McDonald's.
I personally would have probably never even seen that ad if not for all the headlines and posts.
Bad press for AI is good even if McDonald's gets some sort boost from the controversy (I don't think they will).
They did get a boost. No one's gonna boycott McDonald's for this, but the publicity and brand awareness they got from it is HUGE.
And this might actually boost AI too. Some people DID like the ad, so AI ad companies might just double down on making AI ads better, invest more money into r&d etc. Because if huge companies like McDonald's and coke are buying AI ads, there's definitely a market there.
I am familiar with the "there's no such thing as bad publicity" adage, and you are definitely right that more people are having McDonald's on the mind than if this fiasco hadn't happened. That said, I don't think McDonald's can increase their brand awareness until life is discovered on other planets.
Well, if it ain't the ol' Reverse Barbara Streisand Effect Method...
A hallmark of this era. Why please those you serve when you can instead infuriate them with a fraction of the effort and still turn a profit?
Sadly you're right. Bad publicity is still publicity
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Even if wasn't AI it was still a shitty ad for expensive, mediocre food.
That's what I find crazy. People used to eat there all the time because it was so cheap. These days you'll be lucky to find anything under $5 and most combos cost upwards of $15+. All my coworkers used to stop there for lunch between job sites but now they all just bring shit from home. If you are still eating there at this point my guess is you just like mediocre food. If beef prices weren't so messed up right now I'd say it'd be cheaper just to make it at home.
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I’m surprised they aren’t selling Walmarts radioactive shrimp
Just seems like another lousy ad, AI or not.
I have no idea what ads look like anymore, so I have nothing to compare it to. So they should have been asking, who is going to see this? Maybe they did do that and figured the demographic wouldn't care.
I think the last time i saw a tv ad was 10+ years ago. Except for the one time i pirated some trash tv show and they forgot to cut out the ads. Because it was american it was extra dystopian. I don't know how people do it. Do you get used to that or am i just turbo autistic
It's a little of column a & column b. Until recently I was paying for entertainment services, then they started including ads in premium memberships (except dropout, you're a real one Sam!). I went, as you so eloquently stated, turbo autistic. And cancelled everything (again except dropout) and locked my virtual presence down. I'm talking vpns,a pi hole, modded apks, the fucking works aside from a complete degoogling which is next in the list. That was a year or two ago, and I honestly must've had something like digital Stockholm syndrome cause it really doesn't feel all that different cause I would typically zone out during commercial breaks anyways. But I had my mom in town visiting and she wanted to watch wicked and it was pretty jarring having to sit through 2-3 minutes of ads to watch the movie.
For fuck's sake people...
Here's the ad: https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34728882/its-the-most-terrible-time-of-the-year/mcdonalds
Holy shit that whole thing was off-putting even without considering where it came from.
The ad was a weird take. I think it's a mixture of the message and the uncanny Ai. Even if the ad wasn't Ai, it'd be a really odd ad.
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The ad was just as synthetic as their food. Glad they pulled it though, it was really off to watch…
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"This wasn't an AI trick," she said. "It was a film."
Nah. It really was an AI trick.
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Use generative ai on your brand once and you will never get rid of the stink.
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