After the backlash that greeted Coca-Cola’s AI-generated Christmas ad last month, you’d expect other corporate giants to be more cautious about releasing their own AI-infused efforts.
McDonald’s Netherlands decided it’d be a really good idea to use generative AI tools to knock together its own festive commercial. But folks didn’t respond well following its release on December 6.
In fact, the criticism was so bad that the company has now pulled the commercial.
The 45-second ad, which runs with the idea that Christmas is “the most terrible time of the year,” depicts various mishaps taking place during the festive period, from Christmas light entanglements to Santa getting stuck in traffic. The solution, according to the ad, is to seek refuge in a McDonald’s.
If at all curious, you can watch it here.
But while AI-generated video is getting better all the time, the odd color grading, not-quite-right body movements, and short clips made the McDonald’s ad an uncomfortable watch for many, along with the fact that these cost-cutting productions are taking the jobs of skilled production crews.
“Please bring back people doing things again,” a commenter on Instagram wrote, while another said, “A $200 billion dollar company who doesn’t even sell real food also can’t make a real commercial.” A commenter on Reddit was a little more blunt, saying simply, “It’s shit.”
The ad was the brainchild of creative agency TBWANeboko, which hired a production company called The Sweetshop to make it, using AI tools.
Following the backlash, The Sweetshop issued a somewhat bizarre statement, shared by Futurism, that appeared to seek some understanding.
“For seven weeks, we hardly slept, with up to 10 of our in-house AI and post specialists at The Gardening Club [our in-house AI engine] working in lockstep with the directors,” The Sweetshop’s CEO said.
“We generated what felt like dailies — thousands of takes — then shaped them in the edit just as we would on any high-craft production. This wasn’t an AI trick. It was a film.”
The statement continued: “I don’t see this spot as a novelty or a cute seasonal experiment. To me, it’s evidence of something much bigger: that when craft and technology meet with intention, they can create work that feels genuinely cinematic. So no — AI didn’t make this film. We did.”
With both Coca-Cola and McDonald’s now having felt the heat over their respective AI ads, it’s going to be interesting to see if other major companies lean into the technology — or steer well clear of it — for their own TV commercials.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.