Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins/Futurism. Source: Getty Images
After this McDonald’s has become corporate enemy number one Disgusting AI Holiday Ads It went viral on many social media platforms for all the wrong reasons.
TBWA and The Sweetshop – the agency and production company behind the ad – have since tried to scrub it from the net, along with a bizarre defensive statement from the Sweetshop CEO, which is now unavailable.
“For seven weeks, we barely slept, working closely with our 10 in-house AI and post expert directors on The Gardening Club (our in-house AI engine),” Sweetshop’s statement said in part.
Even more strange than trying to remember the disastrous ad was the company’s reaction to this glitch. When we asked the artery-clogging megacorporation why it had removed the ad, it responded with a statement that it was the linguistic equivalent of a chicken nugget: incomplete, and oddly evasive about its origins.
“The ad was created for McDonald’s Netherlands, but we have decided to remove our AI-generated Christmas ad,” the statement said. “It was intended to reflect the stressful moments that occur during the holidays in the Netherlands, but we recognize that for many of our guests, this season is ‘the most wonderful time of the year’.”
“We respect this and are committed to creating experiences that provide good times and good food for everyone,” it continued.
The company was also very insistent that its Netherlands branch was to be blamed for the incident.
“For the sake of accuracy it is important that any references to the brand in your story and headline be to ‘McDonald’s Netherlands’,” she demanded.
Without any further comment from McDonald’s Netherlands or its parent company, McDonald’s, it’s hard to say what’s really going on behind the scenes, although it’s easy to guess.
Arguably the most dramatic interpretation Temporary nearby Is that McDonald’s – which, unlike others, has capital directly in McDonald’s Netherlands royalty system – Instructed its Dutch segment to run AI ads on its own. If that were the case, it would mean that McDonald’s HQ forced its Netherlands counterpart to fire the appalling AI ad in order to test its feasibility for larger market segments.
Although there is no direct evidence, McDonald’s strategy of placing the blame on its Netherlands branch would be the most effective way to prevent brand damage caused by the disgusting AI experiment involving its logo.
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There is also the “boiling frog” theory, Corporate executives are gradually overcoming AI shortages wear and tear consumer Below And normalize this kind of low-budget swill. As an offensive security engineer Ryan O’Horo saw“There are no consequences that these companies can’t survive, they can’t be held accountable, so they don’t really respond to feedback.”
Whether that was intentional or not is another story, but the point is compelling. As Another commentator Reportedly, the marketing firm is a major arm of TBWA omnicom networkwhich recently became largest advertising firm In this world.
Why is this important? Despite its huge scale, Omnicom has just announced it is laying off some people 4,000 employees around the world, as it expands its ownership AI virtual assistant and at home Generative AI SystemSimply put, these advertising companies want to make generative AI the new norm in order to cut down on human headcount and keep profit margins tight,
However, when it comes to McDonald’s, the one most likely to read this story is also the most mundane.
Global brands like McDonald’s generally contribute international section Significant freedom to decide how to work. This allows smaller segments of the company to tailor products and marketing to local conditions, while testing new “innovations” – such as AI ads – in smaller markets before incorporating them into the chain.
In this scenario, even though McDonald’s US hasn’t ordered it, it’s still learning and collecting data on the ad. Given what we’ve seen so far, Feedback may be putting out more AI ads in the near future.
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