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What happens when a global brand uses generative AI to tell a holiday story centered on chaos and cynicism, aimed at an audience of working people already carrying real economic and emotional strain? And why did this ad land so differently from McDonald’s far more successful Grinch Meal holiday campaign?
In this holiday bonus episode of Case & Point, host Asa-Mari Z. investigates the backlash surrounding McDonald’s Netherlands’ AI-generated Christmas ad and what it reveals about storytelling, power, and responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence.
This episode explores:
- Public trust in AI advertising and generative AI content
- The cultural role of holiday advertising for working people
- Why the problem wasn’t AI itself, but the story that was told
- The economic, environmental, and labor impacts shaping public perception of AI
- How creative and marketing decisions reflect larger power dynamics
Rather than treating this as a one-off marketing failure, Case & Point examines the ad as a microcosm of a larger cultural moment, where companies rush to adopt AI while shifting risk and cost downward to workers and consumers.
This episode is a thoughtful, investigative look at AI in advertising, ethical storytelling, and why brands have a responsibility to earn trust when using powerful new technologies.
Because when technology moves fast, judgment has to move carefully.
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Stay curious. Stay grounded.
And remember: the stories we accept today are the ones we live inside tomorrow.
