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A news-format advertisement created using generative AI. / Captured from Instagram

"Exclusive: Methyl and synthetic components detected in nicotine-free e-liquids currently on the market." "Consumers blindsided after trusting nicotine-free claims."

These are the striking lines from a video rapidly going viral on Instagram Reels. In the footage, a news anchor delivers updates on e-cigarettes in front of a professional studio backdrop, complete with urgent breaking news tickers and broadcast graphics sweeping across the bottom of the screen. Another frame flashes an exclusive tag alongside a detailed chemical analysis chart. However, this is not a legitimate news broadcast. The entire segment is a fabricated production generated by artificial intelligence. While it seamlessly mimics an authentic news flash at first glance, the video concludes with a direct commercial promotion for a specific e-cigarette brand.

Advertisements for e-cigarettes disguised as actual news articles and television broadcasts are proliferating across social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram. By deploying generative AI to manufacture synthetic anchors, captions, and studio settings, these campaigns are engineered to look precisely like objective journalism.

A comprehensive review of social media channels on May 25 revealed dozens of advertisement clips leveraging this deceptive format. The strategic structure of these videos follows a calculated template: an AI-generated anchor triggers consumer anxiety by reporting a major safety scandal using alarming phrases such as "detections exceeding safety thresholds" or "public trust shattered." The video then presents custom analysis charts, product imagery, and lab results tailored to their brand, seamlessly pivoting to taglines like "completely free of methyl and synthetic chemicals" or "the only product to pass rigorous testing," framing their own e-cigarette as the ultimate safe alternative.

The critical issue is that these highly stylized clips are far more likely to be perceived by casual viewers as informative news rather than commercial advertisements. Given the nature of short-form video consumption, users absorb content within a span of a few seconds, making it exceptionally difficult to scrutinize or filter out disguised marketing tactics.

Under current legislation, advertisements featuring AI-generated doctors or technical experts who mimic real medical professionals to validate product efficacy are subject to strict regulatory bans. Just last April, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods specifically designed to prohibit deceptive advertisements leveraging generative AI. However, current enforcement frameworks remain heavily siloed around AI medical figures, leaving a significant regulatory blind spot regarding AI-driven advertisements that counterfeit the format of print and broadcast news.

"While consumers approach traditional commercials with an inherent awareness of their promotional nature, AI anchor advertisements utilizing a news format are frequently internalized as objective facts," warned Lee Hong-joo, a professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women's University. "The foundational credibility tied to a news format drastically lowers consumer vigilance. This becomes dangerous when applied to health-adjacent products like e-cigarettes, which can profoundly misinform vulnerable demographics like teenagers. Regulatory focus needs to shift away from the AI technology itself and target the specific methodology that tricks consumers into misidentifying ads as news."

Lee Chang-hyun, a professor of media and advertising at Kookmin University, echoed these concerns, emphasizing the systemic threat to digital discourse. "Using AI anchors to mimic news broadcasts exploits user trust by deliberately blurring the line between marketing and journalism," Lee pointed out. "Generative AI is uniquely hazardous because it allows bad actors to infinitely replicate human authority and institutional prestige at a near-zero cost. We urgently need to establish robust social standards and institutional frameworks—such as mandating explicit, unambiguous disclosures of AI usage—to safeguard the baseline integrity of our digital public square."

                                                                                                             Kim Tae-hoon