“Why don’t I tell you guys what perfumes I wear? I think my favorite perfume that I use now is probably Nyla by Arabiyat,” molly mae saysSitting casually on the floor in a TikTok video. In another, she records herself opening a perfume cabinet better stocked than a fragrance department, explaining: “The one I’m currently using every day is Nyla by Arabiyat, but I’ve left it with Tommy, which is why it’s not here”.
Molly Mae’s endorsement helped the perfume, produced by a Dubai-based fragrance house called Mai Perfumes, go viral. At £17.99 and available on the TikTok shop, it’s significantly more affordable and accessible than most fragrances, especially those worn by celebrities. But if it sounds too good to be true, that’s because the videos were fake. In July, Molly Mae posted a video Saying that her fans were duped into buying her favorite perfume. Unbeknownst to them, they had fallen into a deep fake web – an AI version of Molly Mae created as a ploy to get more sales. And it wasn’t just her who became the face of the fragrance, the AI version too Rihanna was also made And it was broadcast.
We have entered an era AI models and digital influencersWhose ethereal faces are used to sell us everything guess the jeans For Samsung phones. While some of these “models” are made to look unique, and others are allowed to use the likeness of a real person – Vilma Sjöberg and Mathilda Guarliani were among those who signed up to be allowed H&M will create its own ‘digital twin’ – Many people are completely borrowing or stealing people’s faces. Last year, Nasiya Matsa Wrote an article for Dazed About her likeness being recreated by AI to promote projects and brands in which she had no involvement – and was given no compensation or credit. And now people’s full identities are being used to falsely advertise products.
Habiba, 21, from Birmingham recently bought Arabiyat perfume for £30, on the basis that it was Molly Mae’s favourite. After watching several videos within the TikTok algorithm, curiosity finally led her to try out her alleged signature scent. “I thought Molly said this [was her favourite] And I felt so stupid for believing it,” she says. “I didn’t realize for weeks that the video was AI.” Although she says the scent is quite nice and long-lasting, that doesn’t stop her from feeling duped. “I was actually swayed into buying it by believing that celebrities wear it. I feel very foolish for not doing proper research.”
Habiba says she will think twice in the future before using the TikTok shop or trusting celebrity endorsements on social media. She says, “Everyone trusts celebrities because they are our role models. Molly Mae is well known in the influencer world, which makes them trustworthy, but I would definitely check more comments and reviews before buying anything next time.”
Amanda, 55, from Northamptonshire also became a victim of the fake video. “I was disappointed when I found out it was AI,” she says. “Not only is it a huge waste of money, but I feel embarrassed to have been exposed to it.” She says she will now seek a second opinion from her daughter before purchasing anything endorsed by a celebrity in the future.
The origins of these celebrity deep fakes are unclear. Rather than being posted by a brand or company’s official social media account, most are shared as reposts by other influencers or stitched into greenscreen as a tool to promote a fragrance (TikTok Shop works by allowing users, no matter how big their following, to earn money from the products they recommend). It is unclear whether these people know that the video they are sharing is fake, although many of the posts have comments pointing to this.
Nakaur Nyla was one of several creators to cite Molly and Rihanna’s favorite perfume. Although she did not respond to our request to comment on the video, she did respond with things like “It’s still my best seller” or “I don’t make AI videos.” (Each TikTok seller who used Molly Mae to sell Nyla by Arabiyat declined to comment when asked if they knew the videos were AI.)
One TikTok user wrote on Nakaur’s video, “You may be selling ‘all day’ but is it really worth it if she takes you to court for using an AI-generated video that doesn’t have permission to use her face and voice to sell products?” But the extent to which these videos break the law is still under debate. The UK government started working on it in December 2024 A new “right to personality”Which helps prevent any unauthorized use of AI-based celebrity likeness voices. The idea of this law is still underway, but it aims to help protect celebrities from having their identities stolen for commercial gain.
According to TikTok community guidelines, even if the content is labeled as AI-generated, media is not allowed to show a public figure endorsing or selling a commercial product. However, People are misleading others in the video Things created inadvertently by AI often slip through the net.
“Using AI versions of celebrities to sell products is risky. This often crosses the line of violating the right of publicity. It means using someone’s name, face, voice or image to make money without their permission,” says the lawyer and law expert. William K. holland. “Even if the AI version isn’t perfect, if people can tell who it is, that could be enough for a lawsuit. There’s also a risk of misleading the public. If a buyer thinks a celebrity endorses a product because of an endorsement, that could lead to legal trouble under false advertising laws,” he says.
The Nyla perfume scam may not seem very harmful in the grand scheme of things, but it is a cautionary tale of the potential mishaps we could face in the future. What happens when instead of promoting a fragrance, it becomes a political party or faith? We are entering a world where technology will be able to force anyone to say anything, and as viewers, we are failing to discern reality from AI. Unless laws like “rights to individuality” catch up with technology, we may have to pay the price of misinformation for much longer than we should.