Several stalls at this year's Manchester Christmas Markets have come under fire on social media for using AI-generated images in their advertising. The markets, which feature over 200 stalls across 10 city centre locations, opened to the public on Friday, November 6.
Social media backlash over AI posters
Dianne Bourne, lifestyle reporter for the Manchester Evening News, posted on X about the price of bratwurst sausages on the markets' first day, accompanied by AI-generated posters of currywurst and hot dogs. Her post sparked a wave of critical responses.
One person replied: "Can we all agree to boycott places with those awful AI posters?" Another said: "£8 and they can't use a bit of it to pay a ****ing graphic designer." A third wrote: "I don't care how much they cost… if I get a single sniff of AI slop from these posters, I wouldn't spend a penny on them."
Another commenter said: "FOOD VENDORS PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS DELICIOUS TAKE ACTUAL PICTURES OF YOUR FOOD." One person added: "I genuinely wonder what % of Christmas market stalls will use AI slop this year, surely north of 80%."
Stall owners respond to criticism
The Manchester Evening News approached the Bratwurst King stall, which operates at four locations this year. An owner said: "In Germany, AI is everywhere and people do not seem to mind about it as much, but the people in the UK have had a bigger reaction."
He added: "It is the first year we have used it like this, but we have tried to make sure everything looks right. We have already taken some images down because they did not look the same. We understand that some people do not like it, and we have had a few people come up to us and tell us that we shouldn't be using AI."
"At this point, we have already paid for the posters and we cannot replace them this year, but we are already planning to go back to photos next year. That is the plan."
Wider debate and council response
Social media videos of some stalls have reached over 100,000 views. In one TikTok video, content creator @hopefullygiggingsoon compared the use of AI to an 'epidemic', saying he felt the markets were reaching 'new levels of AI sloppification'.
Another stall owner, with locations at Albert Square and St Ann's Square, defended the practice: "There are a lot of stalls and even shops and restaurants doing it now, it's not just us. I think they are realistic to what we sell, we are not misleading people."
The woman said she had not received complaints from customers, adding: "I can see why some people might have a concern about AI in general, but nobody has said anything directly to us. We are a local business, and I do think that people and the press like to be very negative about the Christmas Markets when they could be more supportive. We got the posters printed locally, so we are still paying for them. It's not like it is free."
Manchester City Council, which organises the markets, declined to comment, saying it was a matter for individual traders to respond to.
