When AI Damages Your Brand (LMA Liverpool)
In recent days we’ve seen quite the backlash from students and former students of LMA in Liverpool due to their use of AI generated images in a recent advertising campaign.
In recent days we’ve seen quite the backlash from students and former students of LMA in Liverpool due to their use of AI generated images in a recent advertising campaign.
Before we start breaking this down, let's set the record straight a bit on AI first. It is quickly becoming the trend to immediately hate on a company at the first sign of AI being used. AI is a useful tool in a lot of ways, whether that's image generation for mock ups or text generation for document structure, but here's the thing I hate when I can see the fruits of AI labour in the wild. Thats the whole point behind the series of TikToks i’m going to show you, the AI wasn’t used for mock ups, it was seemingly used in replacement of models.
I first became aware of this situation after seeing a TikTok by the creator @JackSGLT who was a former student of LMA. In the TikTok he goes over some social media Ads he’d seen from his former performing arts school, in which clear uses of AI images can be seen. The main give away (as always) was the hands. In the video Jack points out how the students who attend this school would kill for an opportunity like this one, to be featured in Ads for the school they attend, to be offered what would likely be their first ever acting/ modelling gig. He points out that, in his opinion, the school has let down their current student base by using AI to replace them, after telling them not to use AI tools themselves, as the tools may one day replace their jobs.
From there, well it kicked off. Floods of comments came in from former and current students, outraged by the situation. Since then the school has Blocked Jack on social media, throwing more fuel on the fire and resulting in several more videos from Jack on TikTok, with hundreds of comments, thousands of likes and more than 100k views, the situation has escalated quickly from that first video.
So how does this happen? Lets be honest here this is unlikely to be handled by the school themselves and is more likely the case that they have hired an outside marketing agency. Honestly the designs of the ads look great, they are eye-catching, look very clean and well you can’t accuse them of not having a style. But at the end of this, it's clear they have used AI image generation to create the main part of the artwork.
It would be unlikely for an outside company to work with the school and their students to create the artwork for these pieces, but in this case, what normally works great for 90% of clients, didn’t work here simply because the school is for performing arts students, it flies in the face of what they preach to their students and that will never go well. Since the original video these ads have started to be shown on digital billboards, further extending the reach of this campaign and of course, further spreading the issue with even more videos and comments being shared on the issue. Don’t get us wrong, there is some support for the school out there but overall this campaign has negatively affected how thousands of people view the school, in our opinion, negatively affecting their brand.
See Jacks First Video Here
We'd love to talk over design or project ideas.
Business Information:
That! Haus Agency Ltd
85 Great Portland Street, First Floor, London, United Kingdom, W1W 7LT
Company Number:
15468201
