By Perry Joubert
Artificial intelligence is changing the landscape and possibilities of digital marketing but as introduced a whole new sector of ethical dilemmas. In the worst cases the rise of AI generated deepfake advertisements that float around social media. These ads manipulate videos, images, and audio of celebrities to promote products. Typically, these celebrities have not given their consent to have their likeness utilized let alone to promote a product. These ads are easily cycled throughout social media platforms, especially TikTok. In the world of advertising, the lines are already fuzzy. Celebrity endorsements are often far from authentic but typically they would have consented to promoting the product.
A high-profile example of a situation such as described above is seen in the health and wellness space. Just this month social media became flooded with fake AI videos of Michael Mosley, a British television and radio journalist (Koronka, 2025). In an Instagram video that has circulated it appears Mosley is presenting to a crowd about menopause and presenting that they should take supplements. The issue with this video that is circulating is that Mosley passed away last year. He also never stated he was an expert on menopause or promote or sell supplements. The Times article shared other instances of deep-fake promotional videos using well known figures in the health and wellness space.
This is a significant issue for all users on these platforms, especially when manipulated videos are being used to sell products for peoples “health”. The group largest at risk however is the younger Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha users. They are significantly more vulnerable to this type of content filling their news feeds. Adolescents and young adults are more likely to place their trust with influencers and celebrities. Many are new to social media and so media literacy has not be learned to help decipher between real and fake or misleading content. Media literacy is also not taught as frequently as one might assume. With the amount of time younger generations spend on social media the greater the risk becomes. There is more opportunity for them to see harmful content and act from it. Health, wellness, and especially beauty spaces are vulnerable spaces that confront the deepest part of humans, our emotions. Deepfake ads can fuel body and life dissatisfaction, encourage use of harmful products and exploit them financially.
Ethical issues arise from this growing type of advertisement. Concerns about deception and consent at the upfront are followed by the exploitation of vulnerable audiences, the impact on public and users trust and finally platform responsibility. This case study highlights a battle between the innovation of technology and ethical advertising. Although Ai is a powerful tool that has advanced our modern world, but it has become unregulated on platforms that already need more regulation and monitoring. Some discussion questions that popped up throughout my research included who bears the responsibility of preventing harm from these Ai faked advertisements? The creators or the platform? How can platforms create safeguards for young users when this content is circulating the platform? What kinds of rights should people have when their likeness is used without consent in Ai content and advertisements? How else do deepfakes affect user relationships and trust with advertisers and digital media and how do governments play a role (thinking about Trump’s “take it down” law)? How can we keep innovation ethically without manipulating and exploiting people?
Bibliography
Koronka, P. (2025, August 15). Social media flooded with fake AI videos of Michael Mosley. The Times. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/michael-mosley-deep-fake-video-73nt0lvkh
AIA Primarily human, Stylistic edits, Human-initiated, Reviewed, Chat GPT v5.0