AI, Deepfake Techniques Let Fentanyl Victims Tell Their Stories

BarkleyOKRP released a campaign this week that uses AI technology and deepfake techniques to recreate the images and likenesses of three young people who died from accidental overdoses of Fentanyl in Kansas City, Missouri. 

The campaign, created on behalf of the city of Kansas City and the Greater United Way of Kansas City, is designed to raise awareness of the growing epidemic of Fentanyl-related overdoses in the region, in some cases the result of counterfeit pills that people are unaware contain the drug. 

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That was the case with James Coburn, who died of a Fentanyl overdose on March 3, 2019. He is one of the recreated victims featured in the campaign, called “Unfinished Legacies.” 

Coburn was a young father. In one ad he is seen sitting at his kitchen table with his son’s highchair strewn with uneaten cereal bits nearby. He explains how he had been in a car accident that left him in a lot of pain. A friend gave him a pill and said it would help. “What I didn’t know, nobody knew -- that there was fentanyl in it," he says. He died as a result. He tells viewers that he doesn’t want what happened to him to happen to them.  

Kansas City has seen an exponential increase in the number of Fentanyl-related deaths over the past five years.  

The families of the victims portrayed in the campaign approved of and worked with the agency on the campaign, which notes in the ads that AI was used in the creative process. The agency created representations of the deceased by superimposing their image and voice over actors with similar appearances.  

“As a mom with two young children growing up in Kansas City, I could not be more invested in this work and hopeful for the impact it will have on our community,” said Katy Hornaday, chief creative officer at BarkleyOKRP. It also allowed the agency to showcase “how AI can elevate creativity and impactful storytelling,” she added.   

The campaign was introduced at a community event earlier this week where 1,000 units of the overdose preventive drug, Naloxone, were distributed.   

Research conducted by BarkleyOKRP found the target audience for this campaign was 18- to 35-year-olds who regularly listen to and take advice from their peers. They do not want government agencies telling them what to do or not do. That insight led the agency to create a peer-to-peer narrative for the campaign. 

Three ads in the campaign will be released on social media and Spotify, and static versions will be launched across out-of-home billboards in Kansas City.  

BarkleyOKRP will also be using Snapchat and other social media handles of the deceased individuals to bring a peer-to-peer message where the target audience is most likely to see them.    

“Snapchat is a particularly dangerous platform for buying drugs,” said Hornaday. “We hope by using this channel to tell these stories, it will deter others, specifically Kansas City’s youth, from buying drugs that could be laced with fentanyl.”   

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