363
submitted 2 months ago by Quilotoa@lemmy.ca to c/news@lemmy.world
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[-] falseWhite@lemmy.world 131 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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.

[-] Flaqueman@sh.itjust.works 31 points 2 months ago

Sadly you're right. Bad publicity is still publicity

[-] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 months ago

This does not make me want mcd's.

[-] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 19 points 2 months ago

yeah this doesn't effect me at all. there are enough other reasons not to buy it

  • it's shit now

  • it's expensive now

  • service sucks now

  • it's american

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[-] cloudy1999@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 months ago

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?

[-] bold_atlas@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Bad press for AI is good even if McDonald's gets some sort boost from the controversy (I don't think they will).

[-] falseWhite@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

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.

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[-] TomMasz@lemmy.world 91 points 2 months ago

Even if wasn't AI it was still a shitty ad for expensive, mediocre food.

[-] TommySoda@lemmy.world 41 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] CaptainPedantic@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

If you want cheap food, Costco food court is where it's at. 15 bucks (if that) for a large meal, a drink, and some kind of dessert.

[-] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 months ago

some kind of dessert.

stop the hard sell buddy.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Jeez, you eat ten $1.50 hotdog and soda combos in one sitting?!

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[-] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Probably get lunch and dinner for $15 at Costco Food Court. You would have more of an issue finding a place to sit and eat.

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[-] Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 months ago

iirc from their last financials hearings, revenue from lower class orders have dropped significantly, however thr median buyer group has started to spend more to offset those losses. mcdonalds I think had 2% growth suprisingly while the rest of the industry floundered.

basically it's people who wont pick a better place to get food proping mcdonalds

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[-] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The first two paragraphs of the article confirm it's AI generated. The only one denying it is the ad agency.

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[-] neuracnu@lemmy.blahaj.zone 61 points 2 months ago
[-] SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

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.

[-] FishFace@piefed.social 15 points 2 months ago

There's definitely some AI in it, and it's definitely shit.

[-] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 months ago

Some AI? It's all AI!

[-] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 2 months ago
[-] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago

Most definitely AI.

[-] lka1988@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 months ago

Yeah, pretty much all of that hit my uncanny valley instincts. It was definitely, significantly edited after generation, but the clips themselves were...not right.

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[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 43 points 2 months ago

"This wasn't an AI trick," she said. "It was a film."

Nah. It really was an AI trick.

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[-] kerthale@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago

The ad was just as synthetic as their food. Glad they pulled it though, it was really off to watch…

[-] if_only@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 months ago

That is an unusually adept use of symbolism for a brand

[-] vcokltfre@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago

Seven weeks just for slop that didn't convert a single customer.

[-] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 25 points 2 months ago

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.

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[-] Ilixtze@lemmy.ml 19 points 2 months ago

Use generative ai on your brand once and you will never get rid of the stink.

[-] enphurgen@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

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"

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[-] ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 months ago

Gross, out of all the options to "hide out" in MD would be my last choice. It's loud, smelly, sticky, and their bathrooms are dirty. That's a bad ad. Way to really miss your target audience mark.

[-] k0e3@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 months ago

I live in Japan and I actually kinda miss going there because it's pretty good here. Fast, cheap, friendly service, pretty clean and has cool happy meals for my kids. Unfortunately, my family has been boycotting US companies.

[-] etherphon@lemmy.world 13 points 2 months ago

I used to watch a lot of travel streams and it's amazing how much nicer the American chains are in other countries lol.

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[-] watson@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

Exactly. We Jews know that the place to hide out on Christmas is a Chinese restaurant.

[-] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 months ago

That's the home base where you guys control everything?

[-] DickFiasco@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 months ago

It's where they hide the space laser control panel.

[-] watson@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

The launch code is “Kung pao chicken“

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[-] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 months ago

Now I'm wondering if their meat is real. Time for me to switch to "Amburgers and Woot Beer" (A&W).

[-] BanaramaClamcrotch@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 months ago

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…

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[-] crusa187@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 months ago

“Most terrible” works well for McD

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[-] ICCrawler@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

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.

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[-] wuffah@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

I think if the last place I could go for comfort was McDonalds I would blow my fucking brains out.

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this post was submitted on 10 Dec 2025
363 points (97.1% liked)

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