6 ms·

You can tell it's great visual storytelling because you don't even need to know the words. I guess the McDonald's ad didn't need words either, but it was just

You can tell it's great visual storytelling because you don't even need to know the words. I guess the McDonald's ad didn't need words either, but it was just depressing and awful.

Extropy_ 10mo ago
What was the McDonald's ad? Could you drop a link, perhaps?
- troyvit 10mo ago
  Here's a guardian link that tells the story and includes the ad: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/11/mcdonalds-removes-ai-generated-christmas-ad-advert-backlash https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/11/mcdonalds-r...
  - Extropy_ 10mo ago
    Cheers bro!
  - Sprotch 10mo ago
    Thank you! Goodness, that ad made me want to barf
    - amelius 10mo ago
      That ad looks like a concatenation of Tiktok shorts.
      - deleted 10mo ago
        [deleted]
      - deleted 10mo ago
        [deleted]
      - littlestymaar 10mo ago
        That's what happens when you just concatenate the output of an AI trained in Tiktok shorts … (Which is a shame, as IA video generation can do much better if the author cares a bit about what they're doing).
        Tade0 10mo ago
        Looking at it I see familiar elements, which are used by an artist going by the name Gossip Goblin to draw apocalyptic visions of a humanity far in the future that, for the N-th time, almost wiped itself out via increasingly invasive body modifications.
    - InsideOutSanta 10mo ago
      Both because of the content, and because of the odd perspective shifts in the AI-generated footage. It made me feel like I was drunk.
  - nightshift1 10mo ago
    Sometimes telling the truth is unwelcome I guess.
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - xg15 10mo ago
    > “However, we notice – based on the social comments and international media coverage – that for many guests this period is ‘the most wonderful time of the year’.” How to make your corporate response sound even more AI than the actual AI... > "And here’s the part people don’t see: the hours that went into this job far exceeded a traditional shoot. Ten people, five weeks, full-time.” If it didn't even save time, then what was the point?
    - IsTom 10mo ago
      Ah the famous AI efficiency and productivity boost.
Aloha 10mo ago
I thought the McD add was hilarious - I would have preferred it not be AI.
- johnnyanmac 10mo ago
  The ad felt like a family guy skit. And animated about as well as modern FG animation. I guess that will speak to if you will find the ad funny or just depressing. I don't think the Ai helped either way.
- abc123abc123 10mo ago
  Yes, it was brilliant! As for AI, who cares? It's a commercial. Laugh, and move on.
  - Idesmi 10mo ago
    It looks like shit.
anonzzzies 10mo ago
I thought the McDonalds one was good and what does it matter it was AI ; mcdonalds makes artificial food and everything about the place is artificial so why not artificial ads?
- qingcharles 10mo ago
  I'm pro-AI but I thought the Coca-Cola and McDonald's ads were shit. The Coke one was especially egregious because if the creators hadn't been lazy they could have made it look half-decent. Instead it's janky and inconsistent and ugly.
  - InsideOutSanta 10mo ago
    The worst part about the Coke ad is the fake "making of" video they released to show how much manual work went into their ads. The "pencil sketches" ostensibly made by humans in the making of were also AI-generated.
- fogj094j0923j4 10mo ago
  >artificial food As if people are not "cooking" the exact same food bought from these supermarkets.
  - stackghost 10mo ago
    I don't usually make salads with 750 calories and an entire day's worth of sodium when I cook.
    - seec 10mo ago
      You probably do, but you don't count the calories, and instead of everything being in the salad, you have a few ingredients outside (bread, nuts, cheese, whatever). Salads being a healthy, low-calorie thing is an idiocy; it's only possible if you don't use any dressing, and at this point you are only eating crunchy water. Otherwise, the oil in the dressing is over 800 kcal per 100g. Most people will put the equivalent of 50-70g of bread just as dressing in their salad. It's mostly fat and not filing. In other words, it's extremely dumb to think salads are healthy; only fat women believe that shit and this is exactly why they end up like this.
ryandrake 10mo ago
It’s probably a mistake to read too much into it but I can’t help but notice the McDonald’s ad is kind of a mirror held up to all the things that American culture has been progressing into: cynical, mean, isolated, artificial... whatever the opposite of “wholesome” is. Totally off-key for what Christmas is supposed to stand for. Christmas (at least the secular holiday) is supposed to be about kindness, putting differences aside, enjoying people and family, and the commercial was pretty much the opposite of that.
- oneeyedpigeon 10mo ago
  Here in the UK, Tesco is running a pretty similar campaign to the McDonald's one (without the AI): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=711Cq8_E0oI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=711Cq8_E0oI I think Brits tend to be more cynical than Americans, though, so it kinda tracks.
  - InsideOutSanta 10mo ago
    That ad is brutal. I feel sorry for people who experience Christmas like this.
    - jinushaun 10mo ago
      Misery loves company. Some people just want other people to be as unhappy as they are.
    - oneeyedpigeon 10mo ago
      That montage version is actually quite uplifting compared to the longer version of each individual segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMUWrBKHoKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMUWrBKHoKc I mean, that's just depressing to watch :(
      - georgefrowny 10mo ago
        I'd like to know what Monopoly knock-off is partly in the shot here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebA8X4HChJM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebA8X4HChJM PSA: if you have family meltdowns playing Monopoly, try following the rules and allowing auctions of un-bought property. At least the game may eventually end then. Or just don't play games intended to be teachable "well isn't this shit" moments.
ars 10mo ago
I liked the McDonald's ad quite a bit because it encapsulated how I feel about this time of year - although I've never in my life eaten in a McDonald's and don't intend to start.

You can tell it's great visual storytelling because you don't even need to know the words. I guess the McDonald's ad didn't need words either, but it was just depressing and awful.

Extropy_ 10mo ago

What was the McDonald's ad? Could you drop a link, perhaps?

troyvit 10mo ago
Here's a guardian link that tells the story and includes the ad: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/11/mcdonalds-removes-ai-generated-christmas-ad-advert-backlash https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/11/mcdonalds-r...
- Extropy_ 10mo ago
  Cheers bro!
- Sprotch 10mo ago
  Thank you! Goodness, that ad made me want to barf
  - amelius 10mo ago
    That ad looks like a concatenation of Tiktok shorts.
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
    - littlestymaar 10mo ago
      That's what happens when you just concatenate the output of an AI trained in Tiktok shorts … (Which is a shame, as IA video generation can do much better if the author cares a bit about what they're doing).
      - Tade0 10mo ago
        Looking at it I see familiar elements, which are used by an artist going by the name Gossip Goblin to draw apocalyptic visions of a humanity far in the future that, for the N-th time, almost wiped itself out via increasingly invasive body modifications.
  - InsideOutSanta 10mo ago
    Both because of the content, and because of the odd perspective shifts in the AI-generated footage. It made me feel like I was drunk.
- nightshift1 10mo ago
  Sometimes telling the truth is unwelcome I guess.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- xg15 10mo ago
  > “However, we notice – based on the social comments and international media coverage – that for many guests this period is ‘the most wonderful time of the year’.” How to make your corporate response sound even more AI than the actual AI... > "And here’s the part people don’t see: the hours that went into this job far exceeded a traditional shoot. Ten people, five weeks, full-time.” If it didn't even save time, then what was the point?
  - IsTom 10mo ago
    Ah the famous AI efficiency and productivity boost.

Aloha 10mo ago

I thought the McD add was hilarious - I would have preferred it not be AI.

johnnyanmac 10mo ago
The ad felt like a family guy skit. And animated about as well as modern FG animation. I guess that will speak to if you will find the ad funny or just depressing. I don't think the Ai helped either way.
abc123abc123 10mo ago
Yes, it was brilliant! As for AI, who cares? It's a commercial. Laugh, and move on.
- Idesmi 10mo ago
  It looks like shit.

anonzzzies 10mo ago

I thought the McDonalds one was good and what does it matter it was AI ; mcdonalds makes artificial food and everything about the place is artificial so why not artificial ads?

qingcharles 10mo ago
I'm pro-AI but I thought the Coca-Cola and McDonald's ads were shit. The Coke one was especially egregious because if the creators hadn't been lazy they could have made it look half-decent. Instead it's janky and inconsistent and ugly.
- InsideOutSanta 10mo ago
  The worst part about the Coke ad is the fake "making of" video they released to show how much manual work went into their ads. The "pencil sketches" ostensibly made by humans in the making of were also AI-generated.
fogj094j0923j4 10mo ago
>artificial food As if people are not "cooking" the exact same food bought from these supermarkets.
- stackghost 10mo ago
  I don't usually make salads with 750 calories and an entire day's worth of sodium when I cook.
  - seec 10mo ago
    You probably do, but you don't count the calories, and instead of everything being in the salad, you have a few ingredients outside (bread, nuts, cheese, whatever). Salads being a healthy, low-calorie thing is an idiocy; it's only possible if you don't use any dressing, and at this point you are only eating crunchy water. Otherwise, the oil in the dressing is over 800 kcal per 100g. Most people will put the equivalent of 50-70g of bread just as dressing in their salad. It's mostly fat and not filing. In other words, it's extremely dumb to think salads are healthy; only fat women believe that shit and this is exactly why they end up like this.

ryandrake 10mo ago

It’s probably a mistake to read too much into it but I can’t help but notice the McDonald’s ad is kind of a mirror held up to all the things that American culture has been progressing into: cynical, mean, isolated, artificial... whatever the opposite of “wholesome” is. Totally off-key for what Christmas is supposed to stand for. Christmas (at least the secular holiday) is supposed to be about kindness, putting differences aside, enjoying people and family, and the commercial was pretty much the opposite of that.

oneeyedpigeon 10mo ago
Here in the UK, Tesco is running a pretty similar campaign to the McDonald's one (without the AI): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=711Cq8_E0oI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=711Cq8_E0oI I think Brits tend to be more cynical than Americans, though, so it kinda tracks.
- InsideOutSanta 10mo ago
  That ad is brutal. I feel sorry for people who experience Christmas like this.
  - jinushaun 10mo ago
    Misery loves company. Some people just want other people to be as unhappy as they are.
  - oneeyedpigeon 10mo ago
    That montage version is actually quite uplifting compared to the longer version of each individual segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMUWrBKHoKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMUWrBKHoKc I mean, that's just depressing to watch :(
    - georgefrowny 10mo ago
      I'd like to know what Monopoly knock-off is partly in the shot here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebA8X4HChJM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebA8X4HChJM PSA: if you have family meltdowns playing Monopoly, try following the rules and allowing auctions of un-bought property. At least the game may eventually end then. Or just don't play games intended to be teachable "well isn't this shit" moments.

ars 10mo ago

I liked the McDonald's ad quite a bit because it encapsulated how I feel about this time of year - although I've never in my life eaten in a McDonald's and don't intend to start.