The first “AI powered sports commercial”

The director called it the worlds first “AI powered sports commercial” It’s causing a lot of buzz in the ad world but probably not for the reasons he hoped it would.

The 2022 Gustav Johansson directed video

72 &Sunny hired director Wes Johnson to create an ad using nothing but existing assets and with no access to shoot the athlete at all.

The spot incorporates footage from a spot that Gustav Johansson shot 2 years ago. From what I can tell the re-usage of the footage itself seems to be pretty straightforward. The brand did have the rights to use this footage. But what’s much more interesting is that presumably the AI generated footage was also trained and heavily influenced by the original footage.

The 2024 Wes Johnson Directed Video

This turned into an interesting conversation between the directors on Instagram. The director of the original footage made it clear that he wasn’t questioning any copyright breach, but rather the moral rights to creating such a piece.

The director of the AI piece responded earnestly asking “what are moral rights relative to AI”

I think this is a very complex and nuanced issue. And it gets even more complicated when you look closely at each spot.

But the debate it sparked is an important one. More and more powerful tools come are coming out that make it easier to “remix” someone else’s creative output. As creatives what moral responsibilities do we have when using these tools?