Can race, guilt, and empathy get you to pay $40 for this $9 belt buckle on TikTok?

No paywall: https://archive.is/nxp3m (or use noscript)

They’re doing a/b tests on the headline.

Sometimes the article is “AI avatars in digital blackface want to sell you this belt buckle”, sometimes is “AI grifters are creating fake Black people to sell Shein junk”

  • Schwim Dandy@piefed.zip
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    2 months ago

    Sometimes the article is “AI avatars in digital blackface want to sell you this belt buckle”, sometimes is “AI grifters are creating fake Black people to sell Shein junk”

    Well, you can’t be too sure you’re using the correct ragebait if you don’t do a comparison.

  • Scott 🇨🇦🏴‍☠️@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    |Can race, guilt, and empathy get you to pay $40 for this $9 belt buckle on TikTok?

    Nope.

    1/ I don’t care what race anyone is. 2/ I have nothing to feel guilty about as far as race is concerned. 3/ Empathy doesn’t even make my list when it comes to an ad. 4/ I don’t use TikTok.

  • ProfThadBach
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    2 months ago

    Facebook Shorts is eat up with this shit and the thirsty mouth breathing crackers lap it up. YEYAYA I know I fucking around on Facebook but it is the only place my American Legion post will put anything.

  • quick_snail@feddit.nl
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    2 months ago

    Nearly all aspects of the accounts appear to be AI-generated — from the “person” in the video to automated responses to comments, which in some cases attempt to mimic African American vernacular — and experts warn scams like this are growing every day

    Oof

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    2 months ago

    There are some clues to spot to determine that this video is AI-generated. Aliyah’s voice is robotic and emotionless, which doesn’t match the crying face on the screen. In one clip, she is sewing a leather belt where there wouldn’t usually be sewing at all. When she wipes a tear off her face, the stream of liquid below where she wipes also disappears.

    So, it seems like the key to these grifts is that the human learns how to cleanup AI mistakes in post.

    I don’t think experts would be able to detect AI content from someone with decent video editing experience

  • theunknownmuncherBanned from community
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    2 months ago

    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.

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      2 months ago

      It’s worse because it hurts and already marginalized group by making them less credible

      • theunknownmuncherBanned from community
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        2 months ago

        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.

        • exussum
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          2 months ago

          We get it. You don’t like black people, and don’t see their problems seriously. Just say that and be done. 🙄

          • Niquarl@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            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

            • exussum
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              2 months ago

              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.

          • theunknownmuncherBanned from community
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            2 months ago

            Calling me racist for factually pointing out how this is objectively the same as any other advertisement:

            • is projection
            • does not help your argument or convince anyone that you’re right
            • is just as much of a deceptive appeal to emotions by using racial issues as these advertisements are, which is pretty hypocritical

            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”.

    • MousePotatoDoesStuff@piefed.social
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      2 months ago

      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