Is the future of advertising fake?
Surrealism is winning in the age of instant attention. But does the art of deception hold real influence? We Are Social's executive creative director, Ben Clare, weighs in on this technologically driven phenomenon.
As technology continues to transform every aspect of our daily lives, marketers have seized upon a captivating trend this year, leveraging the surreal to stop thumbs and win hearts for their brands.
If you haven’t seen London’s iconic Big Ben dripped out in a North Face jacket or Maybelline cosmetics’ eyelash-donning trains or French fashion label Jacquemus’ inflatable handbags, you’re rapidly becoming the global exception.
These aren’t real ads mind you – they’re surreal, eye-catching CGI creations adopted by an ever-expanding cohort of lifestyle and fashion brands. And, they’re taking over cities across the world. Or, to the untrained eye, appear to be.
Blurring the boundaries between the palpable and the artistic, this new form of reality-bending media is a powerful one for marketers. When executed with finesse, the seamless juxtaposition of the surreal and the mundane compels individuals to stop their scrolling and spend an extra few seconds thinking ‘Did that really happen? That can’t be legit?’
The global fashion giant, Jacequemus owes much of its social success to this trend. In April of this year, a video featuring oversized Le Bambino bags parading down Parisian streets as if they were buses, brought internet traffic to a standstill. The ludicrously capacious bags were in fact the handiwork of Ian Padgham, a 3D artist based in Bordeaux.
Other brands soon followed suit, with Maybelline at the forefront, enlisting Padgham’s services to craft a film in which a London tube featuring colossal lashes arrives at a station, only to have them swept back by a mascara brush, promoting the Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High product.
@maybelline 📣 All aboard the Sky High Mascara Express ✨🚄 After hitting the NYC Streets, we’re taking over London💂🇬🇧 We are on the move with #SkyHighMascara elevating your lash game to new heights🌤️ 🌇 it’s guaranteed to serve limitless lash length 📏 and full volume😍 #Maybelline ♬ original sound – Maybelline New York
The stunt garnered over 670,000 engagements on TikTok and ignited conversations across major media platforms, leaving viewers in heated debates over the authenticity of the content.
Sportswear retailer JD Sports is the latest in a string of brands to harness this social media trend, styling Big Ben, the 310-foot London landmark in a puffer jacket to stay cosy throughout the winter.
But it’s not just the striking level of realism and mimicry of organic content (for example, made to look as if shot on one’s phone) that fuels discourse; it’s the swift response to cultural moments that elevates this content to an extraordinary level.
For instance, at the recent Berlin Marathon, Adidas athlete Tigist Assefa astounded the world with a record-breaking performance, all while donning the soon-to-be-released Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 sneakers.
We Are Social was able to match her record-breaking pace, crafting a scroll-stopping VFX reactive post for Adidas mere hours after the event, seamlessly riding the wave of the cultural phenomenon in a way no one expected. The reactive post performed +166% above the channel average.
As costs decrease and the tech becomes more user-friendly, more and more brands will have the ability to launch a campaign that gives the appearance of a multimillion-dollar production, all without breaking the bank. It’s the ultimate hack for brands on a budget.
Which then begs the question… does the concept of ‘real’ hold any weight? Does it actually matter?
Authenticity has long been hailed as a must-have for a brand’s social success, yet it seems audiences are more than willing to suspend their desire for it in order to be entertained on social media.
I mean, does your average consumer really lose sleep over whether a scene is genuinely outdoors or just a clever CGI trick? I’m guessing not. Does it still move the needle with audiences if it’s all smoke and mirrors? Absolutely! Fake ads have real impact.
But, while CGI ushers in a realm of opportunity to brands of all segments, it’s one that requires careful navigation.
In the wrong hands, modern AI and digital tools can dangerously blur the boundaries between reality and artistic expression, eroding trust and credibility with audiences when the trickery intends to mislead rather than entertain.
Respecting the delicate balance between illusion and truth will be essential in maintaining authenticity and transparency with consumers going forward.
It’s still early days, and although some in our bubble have already tired of the trend, it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Fauxvertisements have opened up a new playground for brands to mess around in – a playground where there’s no physics (or boring permissions) and absolutely zero limits to our creative whims. Game on.
Interesting puff piece for We Are Social. Arguably the very thing they are advocating for could be the end of content agencies. If people think that this is content than what’s the point of engaging a specialist content agency. storytelling still needs to be at the forefront. this is not story telling
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