"On the left of one such billboard is a startling reality-bending image of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau coiled around a stripper pole. Another billboard features an echo of the much-memed deepfake of Pope Francis in a stylish puffer coat. On the right of both billboards is an, evidently real, often sweaty, intimidatingly fit person in workout gear. Across both is the tagline, "Question Everything but Yourself," followed by the now familiar "Equinox It's not Fitness. It's Life.""
"Even as AI infiltrates many facets of human activity, advertising it - or using to create ads - has frequently been met with anger from consumers. Consider the defacing of NYC subway ads for the AI-enabled wearable "Friend," or the recent removal of misleading J. Crew Instagram postings created by AI. A similar outcry has met AI-driven ads by Coca-Cola and McDonald's."
Equinox is running large billboards pairing surreal, AI-manipulated images with evidently real, fit people and the tagline "Question Everything but Yourself," followed by "Equinox It's not Fitness. It's Life." Images include surreal figures such as a three-breasted woman, an exaggerated body builder, a Trudeau pole image, and a memed deepfake of Pope Francis contrasted with sweaty exercisers. The effort aligns with other brands that foreground human authenticity against AI-produced imagery. The agency Angry Gods frames the work as using AI while criticizing poor uses and arguing that physical fitness provides a tangible check on image-based deception.
Read at The Hollywood Reporter
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]