The brushed twill shirt from men’s wear company Teddy Stratford in the image below highlights the crisp lines produced by its patented “zip fit’ technology. Also, the wonders of another kind of tech — for while the clothing is real, the model, boat and urban backdrop are all the product of artificial intelligence. The New York fashion brand is one of a growing number of companies using generative AI to create ads for social media, a shift that can save big bucks while producing a diversity of marketing content. Bryan Davis, founder of Teddy Stratford, said that AI lets the small business produce professional-grade images that would ordinarily cost tens of thousands of dollars to churn out.”We don’t have to hire a model, we don’t have to hire a photographer, and the images we’re able to make are really on-brand, and elevate our look to where we want it to be,” he told CBS News. “And they are not obviously AI. They look really real.”Davis also said AI lets him market his company’s products to a wider customer base without having to hire a range of models of different shapes, sizes and ethnicities.”I can get a diverse crew of a dozen models that represent our brand well without going out and looking for people, coordinating with a photographer, or getting a permit to shoot on a rooftop,” he said. “We’re not Calvin Klein — it’s not like we could go out and spend $50,000 or $100,000 on a photoshoot.””As a brand owner, it’s a huge win because we can show our product in a certain way, without spending money we don’t have,” Davis added.Get realWhile Davis touts the capabilities of AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, other brands are taking the opposite tack by highlighting their commitment not to use the technology. Aerie, an intimate apparel brand owned by American Eagle Outfitters, last month debuted an ad campaign featuring actress Pamela Anderson crafting AI prompts to create lifelike models. The kicker: Aerie vows never to use AI-generated people or bodies in its ads. On its website, the brand describes the rationale behind its “no AI” pledge.”In 2014, we stopped retouching people and bodies. In 2025, we recommitted to never use AI to generate bodies or change the people and bodies in our images,” according to the Aerie. “You deserve REAL in every image, every store & every moment. We believe transparency isn’t a trend. It’s our promise to you. No retouching. No AI. Because REAL MATTERS.”Aerie isn’t alone in attaching such a disclaimer to its images, a pledge that speaks to growing public concerns about distinguishing between real images and AI “slop.” For example, diaper company Coterie recently also pledged not to generate content using the technology, writing in an Instagram post that “AI can’t change a diaper.””Parenting is as real as it gets. We believe our content should be, too,” the brand said. Can AI produce empathy?Of course, advertising has long produced highly stylized images that often barely correspond with reality — airbrushing, retouching and color-grading shots to produce the desired effects, among many other industry techniques. By that measure, isn’t AI just the latest trick of the trade used to separate consumers from their money?Chris Gillett, a professional headshot photographer who relies on time-tested skills to represent his subjects in the best light, isn’t so sure. He’s skeptical that AI-generated people will generate the same level of connection with consumers.”I can look at an image of a happy couple, and I’m empathizing. But if I know those people are fake, I don’t think I am going to empathize with them,” he said. Gillett acknowledges that some AI-hatched ads, like those created by Teddy Stratford, can appear startlingly real, but said that in other campaigns the ads “just feel off, or weird.” Amid a deluge of AI slop, Gillett thinks some consumers will embrace brands that lean into their authenticity by openly rejecting AI marketing. “We’re so disconnected now as it is, because phones are a filter between us and other humans, and now we just made it worse,” Gillett said. “I have hope that human yearning for authenticity and authentic human connection will prevail and keep us from running completely off the rails with this stuff.”
This male model sporting a crisp summer shirt isn’t real. Will consumers care?
