All according to the plan.
Release an AI ad, knowing full well it will cause a lot of headlines and people talking/hating it, based on what happened with the coke ad.
Then remove the ad due to “backlash” and say something like “We listened to you, our dear customers, so sowwy for the AI slop, we the good guys”
BAM! Now you have half the world talking about the ad and making everyone think about McDonald’s.
I personally would have probably never even seen that ad if not for all the headlines and posts.
Sadly you’re right. Bad publicity is still publicity
This does not make me want mcd’s.
yeah this doesn’t effect me at all. there are enough other reasons not to buy it
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it’s shit now
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it’s expensive now
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service sucks now
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it’s american
Shit, there are at least 3 mcds within a few miles from my house, and I manage to just not eat there.
It’s shit NOW? it’s always been shit.
nah like eight years ago a jr chicken was tasty and a decent price. good value.
Just because it tasted good to you doesn’t mean it was actually good food. Most parmesan cheese in the US is largely wood pulp. Yum right?
I didn’t say it was good, and definitely didn’t say that it was healthy or quality. only that it was good value, and obviously in the context of fast food which is inherently neither healthy nor quality and so that does not need to be stated
What is a good value for a 5 gallon bucket of shit? Value is a grade of price AND quality.
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A hallmark of this era. Why please those you serve when you can instead infuriate them with a fraction of the effort and still turn a profit?
Bad press for AI is good even if McDonald’s gets some sort boost from the controversy (I don’t think they will).
They did get a boost. No one’s gonna boycott McDonald’s for this, but the publicity and brand awareness they got from it is HUGE.
And this might actually boost AI too. Some people DID like the ad, so AI ad companies might just double down on making AI ads better, invest more money into r&d etc. Because if huge companies like McDonald’s and coke are buying AI ads, there’s definitely a market there.
I am familiar with the “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” adage, and you are definitely right that more people are having McDonald’s on the mind than if this fiasco hadn’t happened. That said, I don’t think McDonald’s can increase their brand awareness until life is discovered on other planets.
I pretty sure McDonald’s made the commercial purely for the “we used AI” stock market bump. It will have no effect on their sales and they know it and here’s why:
There’s hardly any actual food in the commercial. (Probably because the AI refused to make anything that wasn’t disgusting and nauseating. It’s called “AI slop” for a good reason.). The tried and true method of fast food ads is close ups of slow motion food porn.
Plus no one can afford to eat fast food anymore. The one nearest to me has like two people working in it and is a ghost town. 5 years ago it was fully staffed, 24/7 operating hours and you had to wait in line no matter what time it was. It was always crowded.
I think this represents a shift away from advertising to customers towards advertising to the stock market. Theoretically they could stop selling food and just use their IP as a speculation asset. The stock market is broken and you even don’t need to make a profit to keep your share price high. A literal infinite money glitch. Who knows what will happen when that comes crashing down but they don’t seem too worried about it. I’m worried though.
Maccas getting their grubby fingers in the rage economy 😒
I still haven’t, nor the coke one.
You’re in a thread about McDonalds, so they get the benefit of you seeing the ad without paying for the extra impression.
Well, if it ain’t the ol’ Reverse Barbara Streisand Effect Method…
Even if wasn’t AI it was still a shitty ad for expensive, mediocre food.
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.
some kind of dessert.
stop the hard sell buddy.
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.
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.
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 beef prices weren’t so messed up right now I’d say it’d be cheaper just to make it at home.
It IS cheaper to make at home, and always has been. Even during the time McDonald’s was still affordable it was still more expensive than cooking it yourself
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.
The grocery store is up to $8.99 a pound for hamburger meat
And given that Bigmac patties have been reduced to 45 grams that single pound of meat is enough for 10
And the salt used to flavor them is still so cheap it’s essentially negligible.
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…
“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.
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
Seven weeks just for slop that didn’t convert a single customer.
Just seems like another lousy ad, AI or not.
I have no idea what ads look like anymore, so I have nothing to compare it to. So they should have been asking, who is going to see this? Maybe they did do that and figured the demographic wouldn’t care.
Use generative ai on your brand once and you will never get rid of the stink.
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”
Ngl I think the concept is kinda funny.
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 used to watch a lot of travel streams and it’s amazing how much nicer the American chains are in other countries lol.
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.
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.
Your first mistake was watching streams.
It definitely wasn’t my first mistake, but yes, and an expensive one.
I see that your AI enabled smart phone accidentally autocorrected fortunately, to unfortunately. Let the US crumble and enjoy the show.
Exactly. We Jews know that the place to hide out on Christmas is a Chinese restaurant.
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“
Now I’m wondering if their meat is real. Time for me to switch to “Amburgers and Woot Beer” (A&W).
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…
No, they just don’t care and hope people don’t care enough to make it a big deal
“Most terrible” works well for McD
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.
I think if the last place I could go for comfort was McDonalds I would blow my fucking brains out.
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.
