McDonald’s and Burger King put up dueling outdoor ads both written by ChatGPT

An AI scuffle has erupted in Brazil, where a McDonald’s out-of-home campaign—in which ChatGPT chose the Big Mac as the world’s most iconic burger—has been ambushed by Burger King.

The McDonald’s work was developed by Galeria.ag. The agency asked ChatGPT, “What is the most iconic burger in the world?” In response, the AI software waxed poetic—or as poetic as an AI can wax—about the Big Mac. Some versions of the ad ended with the tagline “A.I’m lovin’ it.”

Burger King saw the McDonald’s work and immediately sprang into action courtesy of agency David. It asked ChatGPT to name the biggest burger instead—and the AI obligingly chose the Whopper, even calling it “an option for those who want a more substantial meal.” (Somewhat oddly, the AI also added a disclaimer—“However, it is important to note that the size and number of ingredients may vary by country or region”—which the lawyers probably applauded, honestly.)

BK went the extra step of placing its ads next to the McDonald’s ones.

It’s hard to feel badly for McDonald’s here, as their idea, while fun enough, is little more than a text-based version of Heinz’s “Ketchup AI” idea from Rethink—which asked AI to come up with images of ketchup (and invariably drew Heinz bottles).

The larger question remains—is AI really a very good judge of anything?