Short version: These are three different stories, not one campaign. Coca-Cola commissioned AI-assisted holiday films in 2024 and new AI-driven reworkings in 2025. McDonald's Netherlands removed its own AI-generated Christmas advert after criticism in December 2025. A privately installed Kingston upon Thames Christmas mural was taken down in November 2025; Kingston Council says it did not plan or fund it. As of this article's November 2026 update, these are accounts of the earlier campaigns, not reports about this year's adverts.
The timeline, with sources
| When | What happened | What not to conflate |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2023 | Coca-Cola launched an AI greeting-card activation using its own archive imagery. | A consumer card experience, not the later AI truck advert. |
| Dec 2024 | Coca-Cola described AI-assisted holiday films and an AI Santa snow-globe experience. | Human creative teams and digital tools were both involved. |
| Nov 2025 | Coca-Cola announced two new AI-driven reimaginings of “Holidays Are Coming”. | Its third film, “A Holiday Memory”, was a separate part of the campaign. |
| Nov 2025 | A Christmas mural at Kingston's Riverside Walk was removed after a negative reaction. | The council said it neither planned nor funded the display. |
| Dec 2025 | McDonald's Netherlands removed its AI-generated festive video after criticism. | This was not McDonald's UK and Ireland's separate Grinch campaign. |
Coca-Cola: from a card tool to AI-assisted holiday films
Coca-Cola's 2023 announcement described a digital tool for making greeting cards from reimagined Coca-Cola archive assets, offered in more than 40 markets. That activation was distinct from its broadcast work. In 2024 Coca-Cola described AI-assisted reworkings of its 1995 “Holidays Are Coming” commercial, produced with creative technologists from three studios, plus a conversational AI Santa experience that made shareable snow globes.
For 2025, the company's official campaign announcement named two further AI-driven “Holidays Are Coming” reimaginings made with Secret Level and Silverside AI. The company framed the work as human creativity combined with AI; viewers and commentators disagreed on whether the images retained the warmth of the original. That disagreement is a reaction to the work, not evidence that humans were absent from production.
McDonald's Netherlands: an ad that was pulled
On 6 December 2025 McDonald's Netherlands posted a 45-second AI-generated advert that played on the phrase “the most wonderful time of the year” by showing stressful holiday mishaps. It was made with TBWA\Neboko and The Sweetshop. After criticism of both its concept and its visuals, the brand removed the video. BBC News reported the removal and quoted McDonald's Netherlands describing it as an important learning in how to use AI. Entertainment Weekly published the company's statement: it said the ad was intended to reflect holiday stress but recognised that for many guests Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year”.
This was a Dutch campaign, not the UK and Ireland's separate 2025 “Christmas Grinched” campaign. Criticism of the AI visuals should not be misreported as a withdrawal of every McDonald's Christmas advert.
Kingston: a privately installed mural, not a council commission
The large festive artwork at Riverside Walk in Kingston upon Thames drew attention in November 2025 for distorted faces and strange figures; reporting described it as AI-generated or apparently AI-generated. The Independent quoted Kingston Council: “Kingston Council has had no involvement in the planning or funding of the display. The landowner has now confirmed that they have removed the installation.” The identity of the artist has been reported as a rumour, not a confirmed attribution; we are not assigning it to anyone.
The reaction was not simply “people dislike AI”. London Centric's local reporting describes conflicting readings of the imagery, including claims some residents interpreted its water scene as political commentary. The owners said it drew inspiration from Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Those interpretations are disputed; no evidence establishes the mural was intended as commentary on migration.
What creators and small businesses can learn
Use AI to explore concepts, not to bypass art direction. Review an image at the size your audience will see it, and again close up for faces, hands, logos and lettering. Test the message as well as the image: McDonald's backlash involved the downbeat concept too. If a work is public-facing, establish who commissioned it and who has approval authority before attributing responsibility. Make room for human judgement, consent and an alternative non-AI route.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority says its existing advertising codes apply regardless of whether AI helped create a campaign; it does not claim a blanket UK duty to label all AI-made ads. Local rules and platform policies may differ. For a smaller-scale example, try our Christmas marketing stack or make a personal card; for practical imagery tips see the Christmas photo guide.