The Influencer Who Can’t Use the Product They Promote

Patricia Haueiss
Jun 10
2 min read

That glowing skincare review you saw on Instagram?

It might’ve come from a real person who’s never opened the jar or from an AI-generated face that doesn’t even have skin.

Welcome to the strange new world of influencer marketing, where synthetic humans and digital puppets are selling us products they physically can’t use and sometimes, we can’t tell the difference.

So, should these AI “deepfake influencers” be banned altogether? Or is there a smarter way to deal with them?

The Issue

We’re seeing two types of "influencers" in the wild:

Human creators who might promote products they don’t actually use.
AI avatars or deepfakes that definitely can’t have tried the product — because they’re not real.

Both can be persuasive. But should AI deepfake influencers be banned?

Pros and Cons of Banning AI Deepfake Influencers

✅ Pros of a Ban

Consumer protection: Deepfake influencers create a false sense of trust. People think they're watching a real person who genuinely likes a product.
Transparency: Viewers have the right to know whether someone recommending a product actually exists — or has ever used it.
Ethics & authenticity: Influencer marketing is built on relatability. When a fake face mimics that trust, it crosses into manipulation.
Legal clarity: It reduces ambiguity for regulators trying to tackle misleading advertising.

❌ Cons of a Ban

Stifles creativity: Not all AI influencers are deceptive. Some are intentionally fictional (like Lil Miquela) and used transparently.
Hard to enforce: Defining what counts as a ‘deepfake influencer’ could get messy. CGI characters? AI voiceovers? Synthetic humans with disclosed status?
Tech overreach: AI avatars can reduce costs for small brands, especially in multilingual markets or niche verticals where real influencers are expensive or hard to access.

What Can Be Done Instead of a Full Ban?

✅ Stronger Transparency Laws

Require disclosure when:

An AI avatar is used in an ad
A synthetic voice or image is promoting a product
A “virtual influencer” has never used or tested the product (because they can’t)

🏷️ Clear Labelling

Like we label sponsored posts, mandate tags such as:

#AIInfluencer
#SyntheticVoice
#DeepfakeAd This allows informed decisions without banning the tech.

🔍 Platform Accountability

Social platforms should:

Flag undisclosed synthetic content
Offer tools to report or verify influencer authenticity
Penalize misuse of deepfakes in commerce

Enforceable Penalties

If synthetic or real influencers lie about product use, apply existing false advertising laws — regardless of whether they’re human.

Final Thought

An outright ban on deepfake or misleading influencer endorsements would protect consumers and honest creators, but it risks being hard to enforce and may inadvertently stifle legitimate innovation. A multi-pronged approach that combines clear disclosure requirements, platform enforcement, detection technology, and user education strikes a better balance: it deters bad actors while preserving space for creative, AI-driven marketing that’s upfront about its nature.