Flux 2
“Ba da ba ba ba.”
Few advertising assets are as deeply embedded in popular culture as McDonald’s jingle.
It doesn’t just identify a brand; it evokes a feeling that’s been reinforced for decades — familiarity, predictability, comfort without complication.
You know what McDonald’s is before you see a logo or a menu.
You know how it’s supposed to make you feel.
When everything else goes wrong, the golden arches stand strong
Which is why McDonald’s Netherlands AI-generated Christmas ad landed with such confusion.
Viewers criticized the tone.
The ad was pulled.
A McDonald’s executive later described the episode as “an important learning,” a phrase that suggested they will do everything except understanding why the ad failed.
The ad failed because it didn’t understand the emotional space it was entering, or the expectations that come with Christmas advertising.
That kind of misread tends to linger longer than a simple creative failure.