Migros' AI 'Migi City' ad draws 58% negative comments

Swiss retailer Migros posted an AI-generated Instagram advertisement styled after the video game "GTA VI" on Friday, November 6, and an analysis published by 20 Minuten found that 58% of 262 visible comments were negative and 28% positive as of November 8.

The count comes from Aldo Gnocchi, a lecturer in digital marketing and AI at the FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. It is a self-selected set of visible comments, and Blue News notes that the result is not representative. The French-language daily 24 heures read the first hours differently, describing enthusiasm in the early reactions, and Blue News reported that split. Migros still got attention: 20 Minuten and Blue News both note the post drew more likes and comments than other recent Migros Reels of similar reach.

The advertisement, titled "Migi City," presents a trailer for a fictional game. A man steals a bottle of Migros iced tea and is wrestled to the ground by a store detective. At the checkout, a cashier and a customer threaten each other with a banana and a scanner used as stand-ins for pistols, according to watson. A sighing Coop employee appears in a jab at Migros' rival, and 24 heures describes a grandmother trying to rob the till with a banana.

Migros confirmed to 20 Minuten that the concept was human-made. A spokesperson said that the "idea, the dramaturgy and the choice of scenes were developed by people," and that "generative AI was then used as a tool for the visual implementation." The result was editorially checked, edited and approved before publication through the usual processes, the statement said.

On the AI criticism, Migros said generative AI "was deliberately used as a creative device" and that "the AI creation is obvious and is also declared." On the weapon scene, the company said the scene is meant as an obviously fictional and humorous exaggeration, that glorifying violence was never intended, and that it understands the scene can be read differently. Migros also said no collaboration exists between it and GTA VI or the game's maker.

Gnocchi sees no legal problem in the Coop reference, calling it an exaggerated, humorous nod, but flags the look. The lettering and animated logo sit close to the original, and while parodies have room under copyright, trademark protection for very famous brands is less clear, he told 20 Minuten. He added that pistol gestures at the checkout are at the very least worth discussing for a family-friendly brand. The execution drew his criticism too: figures at times change appearance inside a single scene, he said.

Migros has used the tactic before. Its "Grittibänz im Benz" clip last December passed 2.4 million views on TikTok and more than 136,000 likes, and Gnocchi said the AI was part of the joke that time. This time, he said, many viewers read the AI use as a cost-cutting exercise. "AI in advertising has long been everyday," he told 20 Minuten.

Other brands have taken the GTA look into advertising, including Burger King, Hyundai and Axe, according to Blue News. Not every AI advertisement lands. McDonald's Netherlands pulled a fully AI-generated 45-second Christmas commercial on December 9, 2025, days after it was posted, after viewers criticized its characters as uncanny.

For creators, "Migi City" is a test of how far an AI-built look can go stylistically before an audience pushes back, and the read on it is a comment sample rather than a poll.

The next catalyst is GTA VI's own release on November 19. Gnocchi expects other brands to copy the Migros stunt after it.