The Short Answer
AI-made brand visuals hurt trust when they are visibly flawed, feel like a cost cut in an emotional moment, or are discovered rather than disclosed. McDonald's Netherlands pulled its AI Christmas ad three days after release in December 2025. Use AI for exploration and production, and keep human craft in flagship, emotional and permanent assets.
Three Cases Worth Knowing
The best-known backlashes share a pattern: a large brand used AI in an emotionally loaded or craft-defined context, viewers spotted errors, and the conversation moved from the product to the method. Each brand had the budget for human work, which is part of why audiences reacted so strongly.
- Coca-Cola, 2024 and 2025. Its AI-generated remake of the 1995 'Holidays Are Coming' ad drew criticism as soulless in November 2024. The 2025 follow-up was more polished, but viewers still found trucks with inconsistent wheels and axles.
- McDonald's Netherlands, December 2025. A 45-second AI-generated Christmas ad released on 6 December was called creepy and poorly edited. Comments were disabled and it was taken down on 9 December; the company described it as an important learning.
- J.Crew, 2025. Observers spotted anomalies, such as a bent foot and a distorted bike handle, in images the brand had not identified as AI-made. The brand said it was experimenting with different art mediums.
What Research Says
Studies on AI-made creative are still young, but they point the same way: people tend to trust AI-generated advertising less, especially when they notice it, while familiarity and perceived authenticity soften the effect. A 2025 study of 412 adults found significantly lower trust in AI ads, with perceived authenticity the strongest factor.
Three findings recur across studies:
- Authenticity drives trust. When people perceive effort and honesty behind the work, the AI penalty shrinks.
- Familiarity helps. Trust in AI creative rose with repeated exposure and higher AI literacy.
- Discovery hurts more than disclosure. Customers who find out later feel misled, a pattern we explored in AI content disclosure.
Where the Risk Is Highest
Not every AI use carries the same risk. The danger concentrates where an asset is highly visible, emotionally charged or long-lived, and where customers expect craft. A resized social banner made with AI help is unlikely to cause a problem; a logo, a holiday film or a campaign featuring people is far more exposed.
| Asset | Risk from visible AI use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Logo and core identity | High | Permanent, legally sensitive and seen everywhere; see AI logo copyright |
| Flagship and seasonal campaigns | High | Emotional, heavily scrutinised and widely shared |
| Imagery of people | High | Errors are obvious and raise questions about real models and representation |
| Product imagery | Medium | Customers need to trust that the product looks as shown; see AI product images vs 3D renders |
| Backgrounds, variations, resizing | Low | Supporting work, rarely noticed |
| Internal exploration and moodboards | Very low | Never seen by customers |
A Practical AI Policy for Brand Design
A short written policy prevents most problems. Decide where AI may be used, who reviews outputs, when to disclose, and which assets are always human-made. Five rules cover most brands and take an afternoon to agree, which is far cheaper than a public apology.
- Human-made core assets. Logos, typefaces and key brand illustrations are created and owned by people, with records.
- Human review of every output. Someone checks hands, text, products and physics before anything ships.
- Disclose realistic AI imagery. Especially imagery of people or events, and wherever regulations such as the EU AI Act require it; see EU AI Act disclosure.
- Be careful with emotional moments. Festivals, holidays, anniversaries and tributes deserve the most human craft.
- Protect your distinctiveness. AI pulls toward the average; check that outputs still look like your brand, not like the category.
The Upside of Craft
As AI-made imagery becomes common, visible human craft becomes a differentiator. Hand-drawn marks, real photography, custom type and carefully made motion signal effort and confidence, which is exactly what customers felt was missing from the cases above. That is an opportunity for brands willing to invest in it.
We covered the same shift in motion work in AI video generators versus a motion design studio.
Where We Fit
Kalex creates identity, motion and 3D work with human direction and craft, and uses AI only where it helps without showing. See our brand identity service, our motion graphics service, or talk to us.