If you’ve ever encountered an online ad featuring a celebrity endorsing something you never expected them to endorse, it’s worthwhile to take a quick step back and consider exactly what you’re seeing. Unfortunately, the rise of AI and deepfakes has made it much easier for scammers to make it look like your favorite actor or athlete is hawking something dubious — and Tom Hanks is the latest celebrity to find their fans targeted by unethical companies.
As The Hollywood Reporter‘s Tatiana Tenreyro reports, the actor recently took to social media to warn viewers about the ongoing deception. “There are multiple ads over the internet falsely using my name, likeness, and voice promoting miracle cures and wonder drugs,” Hanks wrote. He went on to confirm that “these ads have been created without my consent” and urged readers to avoid these scams.
As Tenreyro points out, Hanks is far from the only celebrity who has had their likeness faked in order to sell dodgy products. This also isn’t the first time that Hanks himself has been replicated in an effort to trick people out of their hard-earned money.
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It’s an issue that seems unlikely to go away on its ownHanks’s Instagram post didn’t mention whether he was taking any other steps to curb the use of his image. There has been some precedent for actions like this — in 2020, Hanks’s director in Sully, Clint Eastwood, successfully sued a CBD company that was using his image and claimed his endorsement.
With advances in AI technology, this kind of practice is unlikely to go away any time soon. So if you do see a video and wonder why the star of your favorite movie is selling you snake oil, there’s probably a very good explanation: they aren’t.
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