this post was submitted on 30 May 2026
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Fuck AI
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This is literally no different than an actor or animation portraying a fake character that does not exist in an ad. BuT tHeY aRe PrEyInG oN yOuR eMoTiOnS!!! Yeah, literally all advertisements do.
It's worse because it hurts and already marginalized group by making them less credible
Its an ad. That's how they work. They discredit competitors, directly or indirectly, all the time, in all kinds of ways. This is no different from putting an actor in a white doctor's coat with a stethoscope, or a fake influencer/streamer with a gaming chair and microphone in their face, to build false crediblity. Lots of companies use subsidiaries and branding to appear to be small businesses instead of a major conglomerate corporation.
They literally just need to put tiny white text on the bottom that discloses it is an ad for Shein and not a real person, the way other advertisements do, and then this whole thing would be a total non-issue.
"digital blackface" doesn't seem to be a problem when McDonalds or the NFL or alcohol companies or car companies or drug companies or anyone else does it.
We get it. You don't like black people, and don't see their problems seriously. Just say that and be done. 🙄
Even in the article they talk about it going further than fake black businesses. It's really just a new form of deceitful advertising. You've already got businesses using black actors and supposedly AA vernacular to sell food or prodcuts or even those horrible betting platforms
What's funny about the whole thing is, for most regular popular advertising for larger companies, the ads wouldn't look anything like these. Even if it had a black person, a poc, a white person, or a mix, the tone would be WAY different for those ads. It's a super conscious exploitative choice.
Doesn't your superpower for spotting racists have a better use than Lemmy comments?
Calling me racist for factually pointing out how this is objectively the same as any other advertisement:
Looks like I'm the only one of the two of us who is actually taking these issues seriously and willing to have a serious conversation about them. I'll continue to do so, despite your baseless accusation that is designed to silence. Nothing I have said can be construed as "not liking black people".
"and this whole thing would be a total non-issue" I didn't know corporate lawyers used Lemmy/PieFed lmao
This isn't a paid-off court. Your tiny barely-compliant text is no good here.
There is a huge difference between fiction-based advertising (Old Spice is a great example of this one :D) and fraudulent advertising, though.
"I am a pirate and this product keeps me smelling fresh (it's a deodorant and it works as advertised)" - fictional character, accurate product representation
"I am a struggling marginalised business owner selling artisanal products (that are actually from Shien, and I'm either a paid actor or AI)" - fake person, fraudulent product representation
don't tell me that Crews flexing his pecs is fiction D:
At least an actor gets paid