Communications of the ACM
An ESPN Commercial Hints at Advertising's Deepfake Future
Unable to film new commercials during the coronavirus pandemic, advertising agencies are turning to technologies that can seamlessly alter old footage.
Credit: ESPN
Unable to film new commercials during the coronavirus pandemic, advertising agencies are turning to technologies that can seamlessly alter old footage, sometimes putting viewers in a position of doubting what they are seeing.
During Sunday's episodes of "The Last Dance," the ESPN documentary series about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, State Farm ran a commercial featuring expertly doctored footage of the longtime "SportsCenter" anchor Kenny Mayne.
In the ad, a much younger Mr. Mayne is seated at the "SportsCenter" desk in 1998. He reports on the Bulls' sixth championship title — before taking a turn toward the prophetic.
"This is the kind of stuff that ESPN will eventually make a documentary about," Mr. Mayne says. "They'll call it something like 'The Last Dance.' They'll make it a 10-part series and release it in the year 2020. It's going to be lit. You don't even know what that means yet." As a vintage State Farm logo appears in the background, he adds, "And this clip will be used to promote the documentary in a State Farm commercial."
From The New York Times
View Full Article
No entries found