“This is what day 1 looks like when I take beets daily. This is day 50.” They’re like the health influencers you see every day on social media. “Today is the 77th day, girl.” But none of that is real. These are generated by AI and designed to sell health supplements on social media. The Times examined hundreds of these ads to understand how AI video tools are helping the lightly regulated industry target American consumers and profit from misinformation about their health. “They target those of us who have health problems.” Pamela Wandrow is 71 years old. She is a former truck driver who has a series of health problems related to autoimmune diseases. “I’ve always had joint problems, inflammation, and fatigue, so I basically wanted something that would help with all of that.” After seeing a Facebook ad promoting the health benefits of moringa, she ordered a popular online supplement brand called Rosabella. “They’re very good at promoting this. I’m a forager, so I’m always interested in plants.” After several months of taking it daily, she discovered that some of the pills were contaminated. “It says it’s an emergency recall.” In February, the FDA and CDC announced that Rosabella’s moringa supplement was causing illness caused by salmonella. Wandrow said she didn’t have any salmonella symptoms, but her health problems worsened while taking the supplement. “If you had a pre-existing health problem and you took this and suddenly it got worse. Was this part of it? I don’t know. I can’t say, and I don’t know how they can prove that.” Ambrosia Brands, which operates Rosabella, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But over the past three years, the company has filed hundreds of complaints with the Better Business Bureau. “In Chinese medicine, we have known exactly how to suppress this condition for generations.” In short, I believe in Chinese medicine. I can see this attracting people because she looks real. I’ve seen other ads that say it’s AI, but this one doesn’t look like AI to me. ” Images are repeated over and over again, from the American flag to idyllic suburban backgrounds, designed to give the ad a familiar feel. The creators have also gone to great lengths to make their avatars believable, displaying them as doctors and oriental medicine gurus with fake diplomas hanging up on fake office walls. In some cases, advertisements make dangerous health claims like this, claiming that herbal supplements are more effective than drugs in treating kidney disease. “We gave 100 people with stage 3 kidney disease a bottle of Sculptique and said,” Such advertising is illegal on U.S. television, but there is little enforcement on the Internet. Meanwhile, creators around the world are profiting from AI avatars. “We get paid a commission when you share a link to an Amazon product.” “Women over 40 need to hear this.” “The people who discovered this are printing money behind the scenes.” AI advertising has exploded in China as companies look for a quick and easy way to enter the U.S. market. For the past year, the Chinese agency has been leveraging AI to sell brands on its TikTok shop. From supplements to toys to electronics, advertising is tailored to look American. “Watch and learn, bro.” The company, which has 40 employees and hundreds of accounts, says it produces about 1,200 such AI videos per day at a cost of about $10 each. “The best gift ever.” Vivi Yee refused to run supplement ads, saying it would violate her contract with the brand, but acknowledged that health products need to be treated with special care on TikTok. TikTok said it was banning accounts that made misleading health claims, and Meta said it was labeling AI-generated content on Facebook and Instagram. However, we have shared some examples that are still alive on these platforms, but they were later removed by the companies. For now, technology is advancing faster than anyone can keep up. Many of these online-only brands are operated by anonymous LLCs, and there are no federal laws restricting the use of synthetic people in advertising. Meanwhile, these fake wellness influencers are proliferating across our social feeds, taking advantage of people’s inability to tell what’s real. “We need real truth in advertising. We don’t need fake people like this. Anyone can be fooled.”
