In this edition we’ll be covering…
McDonald's controversial AI Christmas ad disaster
How to use Perplexity voice mode to practice job interviews
Setting up MCP servers in Codex
5 trending AI signals from Meta, Spotify, and beyond
3 AI tools to boost your productivity and LinkedIn presence
And much more…
The Latest in AI
When AI Ads Go Wrong…
McDonald's Netherlands just learned the hard way that not all publicity is good publicity. The fast-food giant pulled a controversial AI-generated Christmas ad after it bombed harder than their ice cream machine on a Friday night.
The 45-second spot, titled "It's the most terrible time of the year," was meant to be a satirical take on holiday chaos—showing people tripping with gift bags, getting tangled in lights, and starting kitchen fires. The punchline? Ditch your family and hide in McDonald's until January. Because nothing says "Happy Holidays" like abandoning your loved ones for a Big Mac.
Here's what made this campaign crash and burn:
The ad relied heavily on AI, resulting in uncanny-looking characters and choppy editing that viewers called "creepy" and poorly stitched together. Even at 45 seconds, the video required multiple AI-generated clips pasted together, making the whole thing feel disjointed.
The messaging backfired spectacularly. Instead of holiday cheer, viewers got "ditch your family because Christmas sucks" vibes. Marketing professor David Stewart noted the ad emphasized everything negative about the holidays while positioning McDonald's as a refuge—which simply wasn't credible.
Despite production company Sweetshop defending the seven-week process that generated "thousands of takes," the damage was done. The video was removed from YouTube just three days after launch, with McDonald's Netherlands calling it "an important learning" in exploring AI use.
So What?
McDonald's isn't alone in the AI advertising game. Coca-Cola released its second consecutive AI-generated holiday ad (with a 61% positive sentiment rating), while brands like Valentino faced similar backlash for "cheap" and "lazy" campaigns. As AI-powered search could influence $750 billion in revenue by 2028, major brands are racing to figure out this tech—often stumbling in the process.
The McDonald's debacle highlights a critical lesson: AI can generate content faster and cheaper, but it can't yet generate the emotional intelligence required for effective storytelling. When your ad makes people say "that's creepy" instead of "I'm lovin' it," you've got a problem no amount of AI can fix.
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Get Your Hands Dirty!
Connect Codex with MCP Servers for Better Dev Work
If you're coding with the Codex extension in VS Code, you're missing out on a whole world of real-time documentation and tools—unless you've set up Model Context Protocol servers. MCP lets Codex tap into up-to-date docs, browser automation, and even your Figma designs while you code.
The setup is easier than you'd think, especially with servers like Context7 that give you instant access to current library documentation.
Here's how to supercharge Codex with MCP servers in VS Code:
First, make sure you have the Codex extension installed in Visual Studio Code. You can find it in the VS Code marketplace.
Open the Codex extension and navigate to your MCP settings. Click the gear icon, then select "MCP settings" and choose "Open config.toml"
Add your MCP server configuration to the file. For Context7 (which provides documentation for popular libraries), paste this:
[mcp_servers.context7]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@upstash/context7-mcp"]Save the file and restart VS Code
Now when you're coding, simply add "use context7" to your prompts. For example: "Create a Next.js middleware that checks for a valid JWT in cookies and redirects unauthenticated users to /login. use context7"
🔥 Power User Tip: Don't want to type "use context7" every time? Add a rule to your Codex configuration that automatically invokes Context7 on any code question. The AGENTS.md file is perfect for this—just add a line saying "Always use context7 when I need code generation or library documentation."
Tool Spotlight
Practice Job Interviews with Perplexity Voice Mode
Interviewing is nerve-wracking, but what if you could practice with an AI that talks back in real time? Perplexity's voice mode turns the search engine into your personal interview coach.
Think of it as having a hiring manager in your pocket who never gets tired, never judges, and can simulate any type of interview scenario you throw at it.
Here's how to turn Perplexity into your interview prep partner:
Head to perplexity.ai and make sure you're logged in to your account.
Look for the soundwave icon next to the message box at the bottom of your screen and click it to activate voice mode.
Start speaking naturally. Try something like: "I have a product manager interview at a tech startup next week. Can you run me through common behavioral questions and give me feedback on my answers?"
The beauty of practicing with AI? It won't remember that time you fumbled through explaining your biggest weakness, but it will help you nail that answer before the real interview counts.
Want to master Perplexity from the ground up? Check out the full module on Digestibly!
Quick Bites
Stay updated with our favorite highlights, dive in for a full flavor of the coverage!
Meta is considering charging for its next AI model, code-named Avocado, marking a potential shift from Mark Zuckerberg's "open source is the path forward" strategy after the disappointing Llama 4 launch.
Spotify is testing AI-powered Prompted Playlists in New Zealand that let Premium users write longer, more specific prompts to generate playlists based on their entire listening history, with options to refresh daily or weekly.
ElevenLabs hit a $6.6 billion valuation but CEO Mati Staniszewski admits voice models will be commoditized in just a couple years—so the company is pivoting to conversational AI agent platforms.
Microsoft is investing $17.5 billion in India over four years to expand cloud and AI infrastructure, with plans to train 20 million Indians in AI skills by 2030.
US attorneys general warned 13 major tech companies including Microsoft, Meta, Google, and Apple that their AI chatbots' outputs could be violating state laws.
Trending Tools
📚 Context7 - MCP server that pulls up-to-date, version-specific documentation straight into your coding prompts so you never generate code based on outdated APIs again.
💼 Hooktide - Free AI-powered LinkedIn profile analyzer that gives you positioning analysis, headline rewrites, and actionable improvements ranked by impact.
✉️ Dreamlit - Vibe coding platform specifically built for creating automated email workflows for your apps, helping you design and deploy email campaigns faster.
The Neural Network
So someone asked Gemini to imagine what the front page of Hacker News is going to look like in 2035…
Until we Type Again…
Thank you for reading yet another edition of the Digestibly Newsletter!
Reyhan
Early AI leader, advises Fortune 500 companies on AI Development, LLMOps, AI strategy, speaks (for fun) on practical AI. Turns cutting-edge theory into workflows teams can ship today.
Kevin
Ex-AWS SageMaker/Bedrock lead. Shipped infra powering 1M+ devices and $2.5M ARR. Obsessed with high-throughput, low-latency systems— and brings that discipline to every Digestibly release.