AI-Authority and the fall of reality
From the Wonka Disaster to the Middleton Mystery
Marissa Roberge
In my former life as a journalist, we worried a lot about the future of AI and its impact on the industry - not that AI would take our jobs but that it would become nearly impossible to discern the truth and protect it.
Recently, AI's ability to distort reality has caused a stir on social media. For a while, you couldn't escape the jokes about the Willy Wonka disaster in Glasgow, Scotland, where a kid-friendly wonderland called "Willy's Chocolate Experience" was promoted with over-the-top, AI-generated images. Families that paid for the experience found themselves in a nightmarish warehouse. AI was a character in this incident, but AI is at the center of the most recent scandal involving Kate Middleton.
If you're anything like me, your feed is flooded with the search for Kate, who had not made a public appearance since December when the Palace released a photo of the Princess on Mother's Day. The photo was picked up by news outlets like the Associated Press but quickly taken down when people began pointing out flaws in it, suggesting AI or Photoshop was used to create it. The latest in the saga is that they've hired a body double to pose as Kate in a recent public appearance.
The fact that AI can fool parents and even trusted publications like the AP is pretty creepy. However, the Middleton case becomes more sinister when we think about the national power behind it. Rumors surrounding the Royal Family are widely considered superfluous, but let's compare it to the recent Trump scandal. AI-generated images emerged of Trump surrounded by smiling Black voters. The images, while not linked to the Trump campaign, were created to win over Black voters, and the BBC warns that AI-generated imagery will only increase as the November general election approaches.
These incidents create mistrust, paranoia, and fear. As Charlie Warzel, a reporter for The Atlantic, aptly put it, "This trust vacuum, when it collides with a still-new technology such as generative AI, creates the optimal conditions for conspiracy theories to grow... The royal photo debacle is merely a microcosm of our current moment, where trust in both governing institutions and gatekeeping organizations such as the mainstream press is low."
In this profession, we often get excited about the prospect of dual or layered realities that AI promises to create. What fertile creative ground, we exclaim! But what is our responsibility as advertisers, creatives, and salespeople to help consumers discern what's real from what's not? Do we even have a responsibility to them?
Selling Music Through Snippets
Or, 30 Seconds to Monetize
Mike Hernandez
Mixtapes, once the absolute lifeblood of hip hop, are ancient history. Soundcloud, the platform that produced the post-mixtape wave of artists, is also unnecessary. Hell, to get discovered, you don’t even need a song longer than 30 seconds.
We’ve come a long way from passing demos around and hoping some record executive hears something they like. There are a lot of reasons to point to - the industry is signing more rap artists than ever and streaming has widened our capacity for volume and cheapened distribution, but our appreciation for instant gratification is probably the biggest factor. TikTok and Instagram reels shovel us 10 second clips that become earworms, and those earworms are becoming hits.
4Batz, a recent signee to Drake’s OVO label, is a perfect example of this new guard. With only 3 songs to his name, social media snippets have propelled him to 10 million monthly listeners, co-signs from Timbaland, Kanye and SZA, and a new verse from Drake himself. The public’s short attention spans have made it value soundbites over the overall construction of music, and this suits 4Batz…his two most popular tracks don’t exceed two minutes. Ideal for the way we currently consume music, but are these really even songs or just extensions of their made-for-sharing clips? And should we hold this music in the same regard as a song from a proper album?
Marketing definitely plays a role here as well. Many online recognize that some artists get pushed heavily by multitudes of hip hop accounts and personalities, and we have no clear picture of the money exchange behind closed doors. Some will argue “industry plant” vs “someone believed in them”, but does it really matter once it’s coming through your headphones?
For a lot of the country, social snippets are the new Top 40 radio station. Music gets planted and repeated, and new stars will be born. While it does seem that these viral talents don’t last too long, as long as they get discovered, it seems that music benefits.
Sephora Kids are using retinol to appear older, not younger
Are we missing something in our outrage?
Marissa Roberge
Sephora Kids, a growing TikTok trend of preteens buying adult skincare products, has nothing to do with a fear of aging and everything to do with their desire to be seen as more mature than they are. Although a survey released in October by Piper Sandler found that teenagers spent 23% more on cosmetics, skincare, and fragrance in 2023 than the year before, we shouldn't treat this as a new phenomenon. It's a tale as old as time that explains why my friends and I were shopping at Victoria Secret long before we could wear a bra. When we're young, we want to grow up; when we're old, we yearn for our younger days.
These facts of life have come to an uncomfortable head as little girls ask to buy products like retinol designed for their mothers to rub away their wrinkles. But the shock and outrage about Sephora Kids baffles me. We know kids are curious about grown-up things, and the beauty industry leans in. Victoria's Secret's PINK plush dogs weren't for their college-aged shoppers; they were for the kids. Glow Recipe's sickeningly sweet-smelling "Fruit Babies" collection and Drunk Elephant's rainbow colors are for the kids! Heck, Claire's built its empire on little girls' pocket money and beauty standards.
And the public has pretty much embraced it. How many of us were gifted a plastic vanity before we could speak? How many mothers and fathers have cooed at their daughters, "Look at my little woman… my little lady…my little grown up." I'm not saying it's right. I'm just saying it's old news, so why are Sephora Kids making headlines? We were all too happy to watch our girls play at being grown up, but because they’re shopping where we shop, it’s finally become a moral predicament.
In our turmoil, we're missing a more significant shift in the beauty arena. Skincare is different from makeup and skincare as self-care has made its way into these kids' vocabulary. Their interest in it signals that they think about beauty differently than the generations before them. Am I crazy optimistic to believe it could have healthy outcomes? Young girls see skincare as a moment to pamper themselves, take care of themselves, and not to look pretty for their peers. And that's different!
The fact is that this market is growing. According to Statista, the baby and child skincare market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 7.71% until 2028. Sure, retinol isn't healthy for young skin, but kids don't know that. If we handle this audience appropriately, we have a chance to educate preteens about how to take care of their skin and encourage healthy behavior.
Fast Facts: March Madness
March Madness kicked off today! It’s been 11 years since the overall men’s 1 seed has won the entire tournament. It’s been even longer since the last back to back was won. UCONN is set to challenge that stat and 24.7% of people's brackets have them winning this year!