• by Shirley Marschall , Featured Contributor, July 10, 2025

“I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world…”

That song, sung in the movie, was meant to be playful. But in today’s media landscape, it feels eerily accurate.

Fast food pretends to be a meal.

Social media pretends to be social.

Reality TV pretends to be reality.

And now, AI pretends to be human.

Welcome to the Barbie World — a world full of surfaces that simulate depth.

No, advertising didn’t invent this world. But it’s absolutely doubling down on it.

The Age of Simulation (Brought to You by Brands)

From AI-generated influencers to deepfake endorsements, we’ve entered a marketing era where illusion isn’t just tolerated — it’s optimized.

Need a celebrity? License their AI twin.

Need content? GenAI will spin 500 variations before lunch.

Need engagement? Simulated interactions can mimic empathy at scale.

But just because we can simulate doesn’t mean we should.

In the race to automate everything, we risk replacing meaningful connection with algorithmic mimicry. And in doing so, we may be forgetting the one thing consumers are still craving: something that feels, and is, real.

AI and the Illusion of Authenticity

AI is truly impressive. It can mimic tone, generate stories, fake (or create) reviews, even hold a conversation. It’s fast, scalable, and increasingly indistinguishable from human-made content.

But here’s the problem: AI creates plausibility, not personality. It knows what “real” sounds like, but not what real feels like.

The result? Advertising that’s technically correct, but emotionally hollow. Slick campaigns that vanish from memory. 

Simulation without substance.

The Cost of Pretend

Digital advertising loves efficiency. We test headlines, tweak CTAs, and A/B every pixel. But how often do we stop to ask whether what we’re creating is actually… honest?

Well, as honest as advertising can be. And that bar’s already low. Let’s not keep lowering it.

Because there’s a reason trust in advertising keeps declining.

People aren’t just overwhelmed, they’re exhausted by inauthenticity. Tired of being “targeted.” Skeptical of anything that looks too perfect.

What if the more brands pretend, the less consumers believe?

Getting Back to Real

Real is messy. It doesn’t always scale, but real connects.

The brands breaking through today aren’t the ones with the most polished creative. They’re the ones showing up with transparency, humor, and the occasional imperfection.

Whether it’s a lo-fi TikTok, an honest admission of failure, or a human customer service moment that accidentally goes viral — real still resonates.

Authenticity may not be the fastest path to performance. But it’s the only one that builds lasting relevance.

Closing Thought

We’ve built an industry on simulation.

But the future of advertising belongs to those who remember how to be real, at least occasionally.

Because in a world of artificial everything, authenticity isn’t just refreshing -- it’s disruptive.