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McDonalds joyless, nauseating Christmas commercial calls it ‘the most terrible time of the year’

December 9, 2025 | | Print Article

A bizarre, AI-generated advertisement for McDonald’s Netherlands is confusing consumers with its “terrible” and “joyless” message.

The holidays aren’t all cheer and merrymaking, but most people would be hard-pressed to describe it as “the most terrible time of the year.” Unless, of course, you’re the team behind a new advertisement trying to “challenge the conventions of holiday” ad-making. With a pinch of artificial intelligence here and a dash of artistic liberty there, this absolute monstrosity of a commercial was born.

Let’s see if it puts you in the mood for a McDonald’s:

Even the Grinch has more holiday cheer than this advertisement, and he literally stole Christmas out of petty revenge once!

According to Little Black Book Online, the studios behind the ad are defending their work.

The film, created by TBWA\NEBOKO, reimagines It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year as ‘the most terrible time of the year’, a rewrite that anchors a humorous look at December stress.

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“From the start, we wanted to challenge the conventions of holiday advertising. It all started with the idea of rewriting one of the most iconic Christmas songs,” says Darre van Dijk, chief creative officer at TBWA\NEBOKO. “The rights holder heard our interpretation and approved changing the title to ‘the most terrible time of the year’.” That approval sparked the direction the campaign would take.

The team began imagining hilariously familiar Dutch holiday-season scenes and pushing them further through the use of AI. TBWA\NEBOKO collaborated with an international collective of AI specialists and invited the Los Angeles directing duo MAMA (Sweetshop), known for their strong visual approach, to bring the idea to life. Van Dijk recalls asking MAMA if they wanted to make the entire film using AI. “And not an almost-AI film, but one with real production value combined with the craziness that AI makes possible. Challenge accepted. Working together with the best prompters, we got to work, and now, together with McDonald’s Netherlands, we have created our first fully fledged AI commercial,” Darre adds.

X users believe it missed the mark:

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Sierra Marlee
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