The AI ​​disaster of the Willy Wonka Experience is the beginning of a new advertising reality

It’s the story that captured the Internet’s attention, generating millions of memes: the disastrous “Willy Wonka Experiment” that happened in Glasgow, Scotland, last month left children in tears.

The exhibition went viral after photos and testimonials emerged suggesting a huge gap between how the experience was marketed (with glamorous, larger-than-life images) and the reality (an empty warehouse serving up as snacks only a handful of jelly beans and a half-cup of lemonade).

But as much as Willy Wonka’s experiment seems like a particularly terrible stunt, the truth is likely to become the norm in the future with generative AI more often used in promotional materials.

“Although it may be tempting to use generative AI to produce marketing materials quickly and cheaply, the risk of misleading consumers is high, since the resulting materials are the relevant AI model’s interpretation of claims describing the product or experience, rather than images,” says Stuart Smith. “The actual product or the experience itself,” says corporate and commercial lawyer at Simkins law firm in London.

But Smith adds that UK regulations stipulate that advertising must not materially mislead consumers. “The Willy Wonka experiment debacle only underscores the importance of this principle,” he says. In fact, says Ryan Gracey, partner and digital and technology expert at law firm Gordons, the UK’s independent advertising regulator, the ASA, retains authority even over ads created using AI. “If an advertisement misleads consumers about the product or services offered, the ASA retains its standard enforcement powers,” he says.

The same is true in the United States, where the Lanham Act and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act can be used to challenge any visual representation deemed to be deceptive.

The debate over generative AI in advertising, and how closely it reflects what consumers might actually encounter when they use a service or product, has echoes of previous scandals. In October 2023, McDonald’s and Wendy’s defeated a lawsuit against the companies for misrepresenting the size of burgers in advertising content. However, a separate class action lawsuit against Burger King was allowed on similar grounds.

Alexandra J says: Roberts, a law professor at Northeastern University: “One court found that a television ad showing a hand squeezing an orange into a carton constituted a false statement when the orange juice was not fresh, but rather flash-frozen and made from concentrate.” It also noted that other courts have found “literal falsehood” based on photos edited using tools like Photoshop, including one pool toy seller’s practice of shrinking images of children to make its toys appear larger for humans. “If generative AI is used to create images that consumers believe are real, and what they are shown is false or misleading, then this practice could constitute false advertising,” Roberts says.

But whether people believe the generative AI images they see fully represent the products or services they are likely to receive is another question. “If generative AI is used to create images that consumers believe are real, and what they are shown is false or misleading, then this practice could constitute false advertising,” Roberts says. “On the other hand, some uses of AI may seem more cartoonish – so we might question whether consumers reasonably believe they are making factual claims about the goods or services on offer.”

All of this means that consumers need to become more aware of the AI-filled world we live in. “AI-generated false advertising images are a problem, as are false advertising images that are not AI-generated — for example, a photo of a different house on Airbnb — and I see no reason why the law should treat them differently,” Christelia says. Garcia, a law professor at Georgetown University. “I think and hope it will also make consumers more skeptical.”

Maybe in the long run it will, but that’s no comfort to the children who have just suffered the letdown of their short lives in Glasgow.