How people use AI in viral marketing today

HostI was scrolling through my feed the other day and saw this video of a giant train car shaped like a luxury handbag driving down a street in Paris. It looked so heavy and real that I could almost hear the tires on the road, but it turns out the whole thing was just a digital trick. It seems like these weird, impossible clips are everywhere now, and they always get millions of views. Why are brands suddenly obsessed with using AI to make things that look real but clearly are not?

GuestIt's all about a trick of the eye that stops you from scrolling. In the past, if a brand wanted to do something big, they had to build it. They had to rent a crane, get a permit, and hope the weather stayed nice. Now, they can use AI and digital tools to create what people are calling faux out of home ads. These are videos that look like they were shot on a phone by someone just walking by. Because it looks like a regular person filmed it, your brain doesn't flag it as an ad right away. You think you're seeing something world breaking or magical in a normal city street. By the time you realize that giant mascara brush painting a bus isn't real, you have already watched the whole thing and maybe even sent it to a friend. That split second of wonder is the gold mine.

HostBut it feels a bit like a lie, does it not? I mean, if I find out the cool thing I'm looking at doesn't even exist, I feel kind of cheated. Does that not hurt the brand in the long run?

GuestThat's the big gamble. Some people do get annoyed, but for most, the fun of the image is enough. It's like watching a movie with great special effects. You know the dragon isn’t there, but you still enjoy the show. These AI tools allow brands to be surreal. They can make a puffer jacket as big as a building or have a car fly through a hoop of fire. The real shift is that AI makes this cheap and fast. A small team can dream up an idea on Monday and have a viral video by Wednesday. They don't need a movie studio budget anymore. They just need a clear prompt and a bit of editing to make sure the shadows and light look right.

HostSo the speed is the key. But what about the people in these ads? I'm seeing more accounts where the person looks perfect, maybe too perfect, and it turns out they're just code. Are these AI influencers actually working?

GuestThey're working much better than many people expected. Take an AI model like Aitana. She has pink hair, a clear personality, and hundreds of thousands of followers who track her daily life. She doesn't exist, but she earns thousands of dollars every month through brand deals. For a company, an AI influencer is a dream. They don't get tired. They don't get into scandals unless the creator wants them to. They can be in ten places at once. The weird part is that people still form a bond with them. We're used to seeing filtered, polished lives on our phones anyway. For a lot of young fans, a girl made of pixels isn't that different from a celebrity who has been photoshopped to death.

HostI find that hard to wrap my head around. If I know there's no human heart behind the screen, the connection feels empty. Is there not a point where this backfires because it feels too cold or fake?

GuestThere's definitely a risk of hitting what people call the uncanny valley. That's that creepy feeling you get when something looks almost human but not quite. If the eyes don't move right or the skin looks like plastic, it can turn people off fast. But the tech is getting so good that we're moving past that. The real friction now is about trust. If a brand uses an AI person to show off how a dress fits, but that person doesn't have a real body, is that fair to the buyer? We're starting to see a push for labels. People want to know if what they're looking at is a human or a bunch of math.

HostThat makes sense. It's like we need a new set of rules for the road. What about the memes, though? Viral culture moves so fast. How's AI keeping up with the jokes that die in twenty four hours?

GuestThat might be where AI is most powerful. Right now, if a funny video goes viral, a brand has about six hours to join the joke before it feels old. AI tools can now take a brand logo or a product and weave it into a trending meme format in seconds. They can swap faces, change backgrounds, or even generate a catchy song about a taco in the style of a pop star. It allows companies to act like a person with a sense of humor rather than a slow, boring office. But it can go wrong. If you let an AI make your jokes without a human checking the work, you might end up saying something that makes no sense or, worse, something that offends everyone.

HostIt sounds like a high speed race where nobody is quite sure where the finish line is.

GuestThe race is really toward a world where every single ad you see was made just for you by an AI that knows exactly what makes you click.

HostThose giant handbags might not be real, but the way they pull us into the screen is a very real change in how we see the world.

GuestThe most successful creators are the ones who use AI to build a bridge between a wild dream and a phone screen, making us stop and stare for just a second.

HostThe next time a giant tube of lipstick rolls past a famous landmark on my feed, I'll be looking a lot closer at the shadows on the ground.