An AI Actress Sold Contact Lenses. China Isn’t Buying It.
He Qitong “My contact lenses are comfortable even after wearing them all day. Do you want to try them?”
So says a young woman in glasses with transparent lenses, in response to a friend who says her contacts are painful. She then takes a contact box out of a black handbag, offers it, and says, “You can blink without worry.”
The endorsement seems genuine enough — except neither woman is real.
This advertisement, featuring the popular AI actress Fang Taozi endorsing colored contacts, has recently sparked controversy in China over whether an AI character can vouch for a product’s quality.
Released in late July on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, by domestic contact lens brand Nutnutlook, the ad was taken down without comment last week.
In response, Chinese netizens criticized the advertisement for using an AI avatar instead of a human actress. “What makes me uncomfortable is that someone without eyes now has the right to speak about eyes,” one user commented.
“AI doesn’t even know what it feels like to actually wear the product,” another wrote.
Neither the company behind the AI actress, Guangzhou-based World Media Film and TV Culture, nor the contacts brand has responded to the controversy.
The fictional 20-year-old Fang Taozi was unveiled in the AI short drama “The Laid-off Girl” in June this year. The series, which tells the story of a small-town girl moving to a fictional city to pursue a modeling career, has been viewed more than 320 million times on Douyin.
In the months following the series’ release, directed by popular content creator Fei Feifei, Fang’s personal Douyin account — created by companies to boost AI actors’popularity — gained more than 470,000 followers. Her account posts content ranging from so-called “behind-the-scenes” footage during the show’s production to snippets of her supposed daily life, such as making breakfast.
Fang has been lauded by fans for having, unlike many AI characters, moles and blemishes, giving her an imperfect and realistic appearance. In “The Laid-off Girl,” she struggles with relatable Chinese workplace challenges, such as pressure to attend business dinners and getting bullied by her colleagues.
Domestic media reported that on Juliang Xingtu, Douyin’s influencer marketing platform, Fang Taozi’s advertising rates are 168,000 yuan ($24,900) per video for clips under 20 seconds, 208,000 yuan for videos between 21 and 60 seconds, and 258,000 yuan for videos over 60 seconds — significantly higher than ad rates charged by most human influencers.
Ma Lihong, a senior partner at Beijing DHH Law Firm, told domestic media that, despite AI avatars not being considered people under Chinese law and therefore not legally considered advertisement endorsers, the video could still constitute false advertising.
Ma added that advertisers are responsible for the truthfulness of their content and that by making a first-person claim about experiencing a product, the AI character could be seen as fabricating user experience. As such, the brand and the advertisement’s producer could potentially be in violation of the law.
Compounding the severity of the issue, colored contact lenses are classified as Class III medical devices under China’s regulatory system, reserved for items that pose the highest risk to consumers. Actors are prohibited from recommending such products in advertisements, a rule aimed at preventing brands from misleading consumers.
This is not the first time Chinese brands have experimented with AI-generated figures in advertising. Major bottled water company Nongfu Spring made headlines last year for using AI-generated images in promotional posters, while companies ranging from yogurt brands to office chair suppliers have collaborated with various AI-generated actors to endorse products and use slogans. Tutorials on using AI-generated videos for livestream commerce have also become common.
Entertainment law expert Qiu Zhimiao said AI-powered endorsements will become increasingly common, and regulating them is a new frontier. As advertisements endorsed by virtual influencers exist in a legal gray area, he said, there is a need for clearer regulations.
Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.
(Header image: A screenshot of the AI actress Fang Taozi in the advertisement promoting colored contact lenses. From Weibo)