- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.zip
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.zip
You must log in or register to comment.
The ad was just as synthetic as their food. Glad they pulled it though, it was really off to watch…
That is an unusually adept use of symbolism for a brand
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…
I think if the last place I could go for comfort was McDonalds I would blow my fucking brains out.
I’m surprised they aren’t selling Walmarts radioactive shrimp
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”
Use generative ai on your brand once and you will never get rid of the stink.
Short memories
For some anyway.
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.
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.
I see that your AI enabled smart phone accidentally autocorrected fortunately, to unfortunately. Let the US crumble and enjoy the show.
I used to watch a lot of travel streams and it’s amazing how much nicer the American chains are in other countries lol.
its partially because the american pallete keeps going back to whats recognizable and what theyre used to, more than being adventurous and trying new things. because of that, fast food establishments keep pushing to simplify menus, rather than expand it. (both to cut down prep time and because thats where the money is). Id reckon a lot of it is fueled by nostalgia and brand loyalty. to take a generalized example that can partially be global, see opinions on coke vs coke competitors.
Well the food is just one piece of it though, the restaurants in general are much nicer, cleaner, better layout, more unique features, friendlier staff… but probably because their media hasn’t demonized fast food work as for high schoolers and losers, and as such, they are paid well and actually care about their jobs.
KFC in South Korea was the worst KFC I’ve had in my life… but it wasn’t the worst experience.
Ah lol, well Korean fried chicken is legendary, so that’s not surprising that KFC is not so good/popular there.
Your first mistake was watching streams.
It definitely wasn’t my first mistake, but yes, and an expensive one.
Exactly. We Jews know that the place to hide out on Christmas is a Chinese restaurant.
As a Jew, can’t you just hide out at home?
On Christmas, I like to treat myself to a delicious, succulent Chinese meal
That’s the home base where you guys control everything?
It’s where they hide the space laser control panel.
The launch code is “Kung pao chicken“
Charlie’s take is extremely funny, and the response letter from the marketing company over the backlash is so absurd. Worth a watch
Been a while since a had a good laugh at a Charlie vid, thanks
I do not understand how people at these advertising agencies are so bad at their actual jobs.
I used to work in an advertising agency, the job is done by humans who go home and watch TV and play video games and generally interact with the rest of the human race on a fairly regular basis. There’s no way in hell that they failed to register the public’s dissatisfaction with AI. So how do they then sit in a pitch meeting and recommend its use?
I guarantee what happened here is that McDonald’s wanted things to be cheap and so wanted to use AI, and the advertising agency just wanted to get McDonald’s business so didn’t push back on it as hard as they should have done. And look it’s now done damage to their brand. They better come out with a statement real quick to clarify that it was McDonald’s decision and not theirs, otherwise clients are going to be concerned that they’re trying to cut corners.
Part of the job is to tell clients when they’re being unreasonable. There was a property developer that we worked with a lot and he was always trying to get us to do deceptive things such as using CGI shots of his housing estate rather than the actual shots because the properties didn’t look anything like what was being depicted in the CGI shots. I’m sure if we were doing it today he would be trying to use AI as well. Fortunately my boss was always able to talk him out of these decisions pointing out that it would simply result in him getting a reputation for dishonesty, and would in the long term hurt him.
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.
One is left wondering why they even advertise.
For coke I imagine it’s the desire to remain continuously culturally relevant so it remains - the - fizzy sugar water in everyone’s minds. (How effective that actually is I have no idea and I suspect, neither do they).
McDs meanwhile has lost revenue (in part attributed to their price hikes amongst other factors ) and is probably hoping to drive up sales.
Honestly not so sure. Cooking at home is cheaper and more accessible than ever with all the recipes available free of charge. Not to mention the global economic slump with aging and (hopefully) declining populations, less people are in a hurry to get to work.
McDonalds was able to get to where it was by offering fast and cheap food because it was more efficient, but that might not last forever. It’s only 1 profit minmaxing douchebag away from ruining its reputation with one bad price raise, and trust is easier to gain the first time.
Their reputation is already in the shitter for helping the Trump campaign team get him reelected.
For fuck’s sake people…
Here’s the ad: https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34728882/its-the-most-terrible-time-of-the-year/mcdonalds
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.
Most definitely AI.
There’s definitely some AI in it, and it’s definitely shit.
Some AI? It’s all AI!
Holy shit that whole thing was off-putting even without considering where it came from.
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.
Pass
Seems I suck at spotting ai in this clip. The cat one looked off and maybe the dude hanging down from the fairy lights but honestly I would have assumed it was all filmed or animated for the cookies.
This is a wild place. Share you experience and get more downvotes than upvotes. Not that votes matter it’s just an odd thing to do. Sorry I can’t see things like y’all.
AI makes all animals more fluffy and cutesy than they are in real life. My mom keeps trying to show me “real” videos that are funny or cute and it just makes me want to put her in a home. She’s also a shit human outside of that, so don’t judge me for wanting to put her in a home for not recognizing AI.
Those tips will help me in the future. I would like to say I’m not an idiot and maybe it’s how I see things vs others. Something I find interesting anyway, like I can’t visualise anything in my minds eye and find it shocking people can picture say a red apple.
I did judge you for you mum comment, but if she’s a horrible person perhaps make some distance between you two if possible. I’ve come to realise most my family have horrible views and it sucks.
It does suck. Realizing that as a child she indoctrinated me to the right wing. Manipulated me into seeing the world as she does. It took me far longer than I’d care to admit to see what happened and realize that those ideas are sick and horrifying. And now seeing how she’s so easily tricked by AI, it starts to make sense. She’s just stupid and easily tricked into believing falsehoods.
As someone with a shitty past but I would say shittier due to parents being shit rather than hostile like yours seem.
I’m come to accept that my parents made mistake and as the eldest those mistakes have shaped who I am, the good and the awful lot of bad. And I realise that they did the best they could as they came from shitty backgrounds too and didn’t have the ability to break the cycle. I decided not to have kids as I am breaking that cycle.
I guess I’m saying perhaps you mom went through a similar background and although it doesn’t excuse it, it explains it more for your peace of mind than hers though.
Edit: for context. I saw my dad beat my mum for years. When that stopped I saw my mum beat my dad and worse bully him. Other things like she had me kick down doors looking for my dad and generally was a warzone we grew up in.
That sounds familiar. After coming to some realizations on my own, I now know my dad had ADHD like me and my son, as did my grandpa. At that time ADHD wasn’t really understood so I could understand how a relationship within that context would be difficult. My own relationships have struggled for the same reasons because despite my elementary teachers suggesting I get tested, she refused. 40 years of not knowing what was wrong with me, fucked me up bad, all because she’d be embarrassed of having the kid with a disorder. My mother, however doesn’t have the excuse of mental health, she’s just flat out evil. Everything that ever went wrong was someone else’s fault, usually mine, because I was there. Nobody else was, because she didn’t have any close friends, for a reason.
I love my son more than anything, and it hurts knowing what’s in store for his future but at least he’s got some help in understanding his condition, and meds and therapy for it. But the future is only going to get worse. And that potentially civilization ending sun spot is the best I can hope for, to at least level the playing field for him. Otherwise his future is just unbridled capitalism and fascism. It hurts like a MFer to know that.
Edit: that last part is basically saying “you’re lucky you don’t have kids, they’re great, but it hurts”
The tree exploded weird, the mixer was vibrating weird, the guy falling on the ice flopped weird, I could go on. It was weird after weird clips stacked on each other
This is the thing though, some people just don’t see that shit. Every single clip looked so unnatural and AI slop to me, real Black Hole Sun vibes, but some people are literally not seeing the dogshit jank we see. I suspect this explains some of why corpos think it’s amazing if they can’t see the abhorrence.
I watched it twice and I couldn’t really tell. It’s switching between scenes so fast I can’t really focus on any part. I am on a phone too, so it’s small.
That’s crazy to me. I’m on a phone too, and it’s… Just garbage content.
Technologically speaking it’s amazing! Very close to real. If it was on in the background at a bar or something I probably wouldn’t clock it.
But watching it? With my eyes? Immediately obvious.
I wonder why some people can’t see it? Do you notice other AI stuff? Like even a lot of animated pictures and memes are AI now, as I scroll by I’m like yep, there’s more. And I’m sure I’m not seeing it all, and I’m getting fooled by some of it, but all the time I’m seeing it.
Do you have a technical background? An artistic one?
I just like tech, never been one for art.
20 years ago people would have shit themselves seeing this and hearing that it was all created entirely by computers. But the reality is in the implications. Sure that’s kinda/sorta impressive that AI can do that much now, but the implications that some can’t tell the difference anymore is absolutely horrifying. Trump can post a video of him urinating on a 40’ tall pile of brown corpses and some will see it as AI slop, and some will take it as real, and cheer it on. The implication is that people can now do and say horrible things and claim that the evidence is AI, or the reverse, that people can make it look like someone did something horrible and people will believe it. Give it another 5-10 years and it’ll be even harder to tell. This shit is society-ending levels of bad.
Switching really quickly is one sign that it’s AI content because it’s still really bad at keeping context. AI is good enough at generating a scene where “a certain thing happens,” but really can’t create a scene where “a certain thing happens and as a result this happens.” It can’t tell a story.
“This wasn’t an AI trick,” she said. “It was a film.”
Nah. It really was an AI trick.
Not a trick, actually. The trick was poisoning the water of some community, and making their utilities go up for this bullshit.
Seven weeks just for slop that didn’t convert a single customer.
Even if wasn’t AI it was still a shitty ad for expensive, mediocre food.
The first two paragraphs of the article confirm it’s AI generated. The only one denying it is the ad agency.
Yeah I heard a guy use McDonald’s in an illustration the other day, how people see the golden arches and everyone recognizes it, knows what to expect. The same food all over the country, similar food around the world. And it’s fast and cheap.
And I’m like… Right… Maybe once upon a time…
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.
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.
You have to be a member though. Ask me how I know :p
Not for the food court.
My local one requires ordering by kiosk, which requires swiping your membership card to start the order. Yes, you can probably ask the person next to you to swipe for you.
It must vary by location because my local one has all these signs saying Beginning <date in the past> you must be a costco member to eat at the food court.
some kind of dessert.
stop the hard sell buddy.
Jeez, you eat ten $1.50 hotdog and soda combos in one sitting?!
Lol.
Their other food is more expensive but it’s still quite cheap.
One day, when I’m feeling particularly rich, I might try a chicken bake or even a turkey sandwich. But as it stands, the $1.50 hotdog is the only thing there I consider relevant.
(Okay, okay… I begrudgingly buy pizza slices for my fancy-pants family members who turn their noses up at Costco’s awesome hotdogs. But still…!)
too bad they got rid of the combo pizza.
And the polish sausage, and the sauerkraut topping for the hot dog.
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.
most people there are likely spending alot more shopping, the food court is just marketing, and it works.
Yeah but where are you going to PARK? I don’t know about you, but the Costco in my city is a NIGHTMARE to visit.
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
There’s a lot of stupid people in the world. When I can get a more filling meal at a sit down local restaurant for the same price, why would I go anywhere near McDonald’s? Because people are stupid. And we can all picture people who frequent McDonald’s, they’re the same people you picture when picturing punisher logos and 2a imagery.
I read that the upper/middle class has started going to fast food more because they can’t afford the lunches/dinners they used to get.
Yeah their sales are being buoyed by six-figure income folks, who now see it as a value to eat there.
If you use the app, you can get a large Ice Tea and a Large Fries for $2.20 including tax. That’s all I ever get there, once a month or so. They gotta be losing money on that deal. I’m slowly putting them out of business. You’re welcome.
Those apps make money off of your data, not their food.
they shrinkflationed thier food, and they never went back.
Prices are high everywhere, so while it’s way more expensive than it was, McDonald’s is still pretty much the cheapest option.
A large value meal costs ~$9, and there is a 20% discount for using the app at $15, so if 2 people go or you bring some home it’s ~$7. Every $60 you spend nets you free happy meal too.
Meanwhile a local place charges $20 for a burger and fries, no drink, before tip. The grocery store is up to $8.99 a pound for hamburger meat, so while it is still cheaper to make it yourself, by the time you include cooking ingredients it’s pretty comparable.
“Most terrible” works well for McD
It’s ironic that for all the broken record whining about “attacks on Christmas”, the first legitimate one I’ve seen is from their largest multinational corporation.
They seem to be sending the message that holiday cheer and time with the family is all overrated bullshit and you should just stay home and stuff your face with mcdonald’s instead. Honestly surprised that the AI is people’s biggest concern here instead of the soulless corpo propaganda.
Oh that’s a devastating point, didn’t consider the War on Christmas angle. I’d like to give people the benefit of the doubt in that they knew something was fundamentally wrong here, and AI generated happened to be an easy superficial scapegoat. Very insightful comment on the intent behind the prompt that generated this.
