Why McDonald's Deleted Its AI Ad and the Defense of It

McDonald's Netherlands released a 45-second Christmas ad made entirely with generative AI. The internet called it creepy, soulless, and worse than Coca-Cola's AI ads. McDonald's disabled comments, pulled the video, and called it "an important learning." The production company defended the work, then deleted the defense. We break down what went wrong and why even the directors are distancing themselves.