Deepfakes are changing influencer marketing

Brands are increasingly using AI to mimic real creators in ads, raising new risks for trust, disclosure and consent. The shift is forcing marketers, platforms and regulators to rethink how influencer campaigns work and who controls likeness online. Why it matters: - Influencer marketing depends on audience trust, and deepfakes can fake that trust at scale. - Brands that use synthetic likenesses without consent risk backlash, legal exposure and long-term damage to campaign credibility. - Younger audiences, including 13- to 18-year-olds, are especially vulnerable to creator-led persuasion. What happened: - AI-generated video and image tools have moved from fringe use into mainstream advertising. - Brands are using AI to replicate the faces, voices and likenesses of real people to sell products. - The practice has expanded from early harmful uses in 2017 to commercial uses such as AI spokespeople, brand avatars and influencer deepfakes by 2022 and 2023. - In 2026, the issue has become a visible crisis in marketing. The details: - Deepfakes are synthetic media created through deep learning that digitally manipulates or fabricates a person’s likeness. - The advertising industry has a long history of altering reality, but deepfakes raise a different set of ethical and legal questions. - Mid-tier creators charging £2,000 per post in 2020 now quote £10,000, pushing smaller brands toward cheaper AI alternatives. - Brands with budgets around £5,000 can find deepfake endorsements financially attractive because the cost is far below a real creator partnership. - The ASA requires clear disclosure on paid partnerships, but deepfake ads can bypass that framework when a creator never agreed to the content. - Brand trust can be damaged beyond a single campaign if consumers realize a fake version of a trusted creator was used. - Several brands have faced backlash after using AI spokesperson content without disclosure. - Deepfakes without consent raise legal concerns under right of publicity laws in the UK and US. - TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat have terms of service that grant broad rights to use uploaded content, including user likeness, for AI training. - The ownership of AI-generated output remains legally unresolved. - Harriet Poole, Influencer Marketing Director, said deepfakes devalue legitimate partnerships and could create a race to the bottom for creators, agencies and consumers. - Engagement from warm creator audiences continues to outperform cold targeting. - Deepfake content can lose distribution once viewers recognize it as fake. - A brand that can produce a credible deepfake for £500 may weaken the logic of a £50,000 partnership. - Consent-based uses include licensed AI likenesses, fictional AI personas and AI dubbing when talent has agreed. Between the lines: - The economic pressure is obvious: real creator partnerships have become more expensive, while AI offers a lower-cost substitute. - The strategic risk is bigger than media efficiency. If audiences start doubting whether creator content is real, the value of influencer marketing itself erodes. - Regulation is starting to catch up, but brands that wait for enforcement may be too late to protect reputation. - The biggest winners are likely to be brands that use AI as a production tool, not a deception tool. What’s next: - The EU AI Act includes synthetic media disclosure provisions. - The ASA has begun consulting on updated guidelines. - Meta now requires disclosure on AI-generated ads. - Brands are being pushed to build internal ethical frameworks before tighter rules arrive. - Consumer scrutiny of inauthentic content is likely to increase as audiences get better at spotting AI manipulation. The bottom line: - Deepfakes may reduce production costs, but they can also destroy the trust influencer marketing is built on.