Chief marketing officers at many of the world's biggest brands have put artificial intelligence at the center of their strategies this year.
For some brands, that enthusiasm has reached dangerous territory. From AI-generated ads falling into the “uncanny valley” to backlash against human models and the replacement of ad creative, the growing role of AI in advertising has sparked a series of controversial marketing moments. The AI backlash has even led to its own marketing trend of brands hating AI.
A November survey of more than 6,000 U.S. consumers by brand tracking platform Tracksuit found that overall sentiment towards AI-generated ads skews negative (39%). Respondent neutrality was also high at 36%, with only 18% feeling positive about brands using AI-generated content in advertising.
Matt Barash, chief commercial officer at ad tech platform Nova, said that while AI can be a useful tool for ad buying and placement, brands should be cautious when trying to automate the creative process.
“When brands ask AI to create a story from scratch, they don't get innovation. They get something close to human emotion, and the results can make headlines for the wrong reasons,” Barash said.
In fact, several major marketers made headlines this year for AI-related mishaps. Take a look at some of this year's most notable AI advertising controversies below.
McDonald's 'worst' AI holiday ad
McDonald's in the Netherlands created an AI-generated holiday ad this month, but quickly sent it back to the kitchen when it became clear that viewers didn't like it.
The “The Scariest Time of the Year'' ad was intended to satirize the Christmas disasters that can occur during the Christmas period. The 45-second spot featured a montage of quick shots of a cooking mistake, a broken bone on an ice rink, Santa's sleigh stuck in traffic, and more. The brand suggested its restaurants can serve as a haven from chaos. “Hide in McDonald's until January rolls around,” the ad's narrator said.
Some social media commentators accused the fast food chain of McGlinchy, complaining that the ad contained ironic sentiment and “creepy” characters. McDonald's initially turned off comments on the ad's YouTube video, but later removed the ad from its site entirely.
McDonald's Holland said in a statement that while the ad is intended to reflect some of the stressful moments the holiday season brings, it recognizes that many customers find this season to be “the most wonderful time of the year.”
“We respect that and remain committed to creating experiences that provide everyone with a good time and delicious food,” the statement said.
Coca-Cola's changing holiday truck
Coca-Cola has already had one AI-generated holiday ad fail after last year's rendition of “The Holidays Are Coming” was criticized as “dystopian” and “soulless”. Despite this, the company released three AI-generated holiday ads this year.
One of the ads was a different AI rendition of the classic “Holidays are Coming” spot, and its lack of consistency caught the attention of the eagle-eyed creative community. Sure, the truck's wheels were spinning around — a criticism of last year's ad was that the wheels appeared to be sliding across the road — but the amount of wheels also seemed to change as the ad progressed.
In the spirit of Christmas, independent innovation specialist Dino Burbidge has shared this useful graphic gift for everyone to understand.
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PJ Pereira, co-founder of Silverside AI, the company behind the ad, defended Coca-Cola's use of AI in a statement.
“Coca-Cola became a pioneer in this field because once they recognized that AI was the future, they stopped debating whether it was perfect or not, and instead focused on how to use it in the best and most creative way possible,” Pereira said.
Pereira also said the ad performed well with consumers in testing. System1, which rates ads on a scale of 1 to 5.9 stars for their potential to drive long-term brand growth, gave the 2025 “Holidays are Coming” ad its highest score of 5.9. Another creative testing firm, DAIVID, said the ad generated higher than average attention and brand recall scores.
Haters, embrace it!
AI granny ads in Meta: a true classic of the genre
Apparel brand True Classic is a poster child for digital performance marketing, honing in on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to build a community of loyal customers, typically men between the ages of 30 and 45.
So imagine the shock of a marketing executive when he learns that Meta's advertising platform has replaced its best-performing ad (a millennial man casually posing on a stool in a matching fleece set) with a hilarious but clearly AI-generated ad of an old lady sitting in an armchair.
Advertisers told Business Insider earlier this year that settings within Meta's Advantage+ suite of AI-powered advertising products enabled the platform to automatically generate ad creative on their behalf.
Meta said in a statement that advertisers using full image generation capabilities can review images before they run their ads.
However, three advertisers told Business Insider that they encountered issues with Meta automatically switching these toggles “on” even though they had explicitly turned them off. That means you accidentally spent part of your budget on AI-generated ads you never intended to run.
H&M clone attack
AI has helped take airbrushing to the next level. Some brands are experimenting with using generative AI to eliminate photo-taking altogether, with mixed results.
Take fast fashion retailer H&M, for example. In March, the company announced plans to create a “digital twin” of 30 models whose images could be used in social media posts and advertising campaigns. H&M said the model would own the rights to the twins, which would include allowing other brands to use them.
H&M released images of its “digital twin” in July. H&M
H&M knew the move would be controversial.
“People will be divided: 'Is this good or is this bad?'” Jorgen Andersson, H&M's chief creative officer, told Business of Fashion at the time.
H&M certainly set jaws in motion. American fashion influencer Morgan Riddle described the plan as “disgraceful”. Sarah Ziff, founder of Model Alliance, a nonprofit organization focused on worker rights in the fashion industry, said the plan raises “serious concerns.”
“In an industry that has historically been alien to worker rights, H&M's new initiative raises important questions about consent and compensation and has the potential to displace many fashion workers, including makeup artists, hairstylists and other creative artists in our communities,” Ziff said in a statement.
In a statement to Business Insider for this article, an H&M spokesperson said the brand is exploring how generative AI can support the creative process in a thoughtful and responsible way.
An H&M spokesperson said: “We recognize that generative AI raises important questions and concerns, and while we don't yet have all the answers, we want to be transparent that we continue to learn and evolve.”
Strike a pose, Vogue.
H&M wasn't the only fashion brand to turn heads with AI models this year.
Readers who flipped through the August 2025 issue of Vogue noticed that the Guess ad had a small label/disclaimer that read, “Produced by Seraphne Vallora using AI.” The models “Vivian” and “Anastasia” were created using AI by a London-based AI marketing agency.
Social media users condemned the ad, saying the images push unrealistic beauty standards and the use of AI images portends bad news for jobs in the creative industry. Some online commenters said they were canceling their Vogue subscriptions in protest. (Vogue's publisher Condé Nast said at the time that no AI model had ever been “editorially” featured in Vogue.)
Seraphne Vallora's co-founders said in an interview on “Good Morning America” that they aim to complement the modeling industry, not replace it.
“We are here to coexist. We always see the photographer, the stylist and everyone involved in the photo shoot as very important,” said Valentina Gonzalez, one of the co-founders.
AI models and the controversy surrounding them were not a new advertising phenomenon in 2025. Brands like Mango and Levi's have faced similar backlash for featuring AI-generated models in their marketing in recent years. However, a new trend seems to be emerging. Brand partnerships with AI social accounts decreased by about 30% in the first eight months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to transaction data from hundreds of campaigns provided by influencer marketing platform Collabstr.
Could AI models become the latest fast fashion victims?
