AI and Fandoms: A match made in fanfiction hell?
Methods+Mastery
A team of curious, tenacious, and candid experts who are committed to delivering work that works.
In today’s edition:
Fandoms and AI are in a complicated relationship
Fandoms are some of the most devoted groups on the planet, whether they’re championing Taylor Swift, superheroes, or sports teams.?
They have the power to bring about massive change when they put their minds to something or decide to support a cause. But at their worst,? they can turn “toxic” and even cult-like which we uncovered in our own deep dive of the fandom world.?
Odds are your social feeds feature fandom content about your favorite shows, artists, or hobbies. We’re going to wager it’s also shown fandom posts that were created using generative AI—like country themes inspired by a galaxy far, far away.?
While this type of fan content has been a huge hit with stans, when the object of the fandom, aka the shows or creators themselves, use AI—especially without the fandom’s knowledge or consent—reactions quickly turn negative.?
So how can these two things coexist? What can brands learn from the complicated relationship between fandom and AI? Human-generated answers below.?
What we’re seeing #1: Fandoms see most brand-created gen AI as lazy and disrespectful.?
Fan-created art using gen AI enhances the fandom experience. Boston Celtics followers, fantasy video game players, and Tesla owners couldn’t be more different from one another, but each group has found creative fun with gen AI tools. Even with the occasional controversy, AI fan art tends to go over well and helps tight-knit communities bond. However, it’s a different story when a brand uses AI.
Last summer, Disney used AI art in the opening credits of a new superhero series. Fans were…not happy. Anime supporters are bummed that Netflix’s anime remake of “One Piece” is allegedly using AI-generated animations. Even a less egregious offense like Xbox using AI-generated artwork on its X account left its fandom outraged.?
Meanwhile, Under Armour managed to upset fans and artists alike. The sportswear brand came under fire for repurposing its past commercials with AI, leading one filmmaker to say, “‘Let's say, I've done a car ad, and all of a sudden I see my car ad done in an animation style, and another director is saying, oh, I directed that. That is quite concerning.”
Fandoms hold their beloved brands to a very high standard. It makes sense that these die-hard supporters question brand-created AI content, considering they fell in love with said brands because of their human creativity.?
What we’re seeing #2: Fandoms believe they know best, even when it comes to a brand’s principles and values.
In the era of AI experimentation, many brands aren’t given the leeway by their fanbases to test and learn. Take LEGO, who received backlash for using AI-generated images. LEGO lovers believe the company stands for human creativity and imagination. It came as a shock when they decided to use AI in a LEGO Ninjago-themed website quiz instead of tapping human artists. The company addressed the controversy saying, “We believe generative AI offers interesting opportunities and we will continue to explore how we can use it to improve the experiences we offer.”
Selkie, a viral clothing brand, also landed in the spotlight for using AI art. To be fair, the company built its reputation on principles like imaginative design and ethical manufacturing. Fandoms clearly hate hypocrisy, with some commenters arguing Selkie’s use of gen AI actually cheapened its brand.
Dungeons and Dragons, a concept and brand built on human imagination, has been berated by fans for potential AI usage based on “telltale signs” of AI art in an upcoming sourcebook.
What we’re seeing #3: Brands see success within fandoms when they maintain the integrity of the original creative work, collaborate with artists, or drive participation.?
When it comes to brands leveraging gen AI, we promise it isn’t always bad. In fact, there’s already a somewhat established formula for success:
Coca-Cola has this down to a bottle cap. Their 2023 “Create Real Magic” campaign empowered fans to create new designs around some of Coca-Cola’s most “famed” images using AI. Artists submitted their work for a chance to be featured on digital billboards, and the brand arranged a meeting with the top 20 creators. Last year, they also used AI for the “Masterpiece” commercial—featuring the famous Coca-Cola bottle in a series of historical paintings, which earned them very positive reactions.
Using AI as a participation tactic also worked for Burger King’s “Million Dollar Whopper” campaign image generator. Fans got to make their dream burger with ingredients of their choosing.?
Breaking from the “grassroots” formula, Nike’s “Never Done Evolving” ad featured an AI-generated match between 1999 Serena Williams when she won her first Grand Slam title, and the Serena who won the 2017 Australian Open.
AI can certainly work for brands. While some future AI-powered campaigns might rock the boat with fandoms, others will undoubtedly add to this existing success template.
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What It Means For You & Your Brand
Do not use gen AI in a way that contradicts or conflicts with your brand’s values and principles. If you do, your audiences will call you out. Tread lightly if your brand is grounded in the power of human creativity. That doesn’t mean you should avoid generative AI, but instead have a core reason to experiment with it beyond, “it’s fast and highly talkable.”?
Count those fingers and toes before publishing. People are becoming a lot savvier when it comes to identifying AI-generated art and copy. Transparency and disclosure are everything, especially as social platforms start taking stricter stances on labeling AI-generated content.?
Even if you aren’t using AI in your marketing efforts right now, it’s worth it to future-proof your strategy. Define where you stand as this technology continues to evolve and becomes more accessible.
The Social Scoop
Get up to speed with the biggest stories on social.
TikTok relaunches creator monetization program, with a new emphasis on building search engine capabilities. The new Creator Rewards Program (previously known as the Creativity Program Beta) will reward people based on four metrics: “Search Value,” TikTok’s version of a search engine optimization metric, “Originality,” which emphasizes a creator’s unique POV, “Play duration,” which includes both watch time and finish rate, and “Audience Engagement” which includes the standard likes, comments, and shares. Creators are encouraged to use the new Creator Search Insights tool to help identify trending search terms and topics.?
Our take: The relaunch of the Creator Reward Program clearly emphasizes TikTok's goal of growing its search utility, with a content library robust enough to keep people in the app as long as possible. The program is open to all creators–not just those currently in the program–and can offer insight into the kind of content performing well on TikTok.??
Instagram updates hashtag search to broaden discovery. People will now be able to review Accounts, Audio, Places, and Reels related to a hashtag instead of simply a feed of “Top Posts” that use the hashtag.
Our take: This change matches what’s available on the Explore page, but also means hashtags can now tell more about creators and behaviors beyond the top content. The query will search the word in all use cases, whether or not it’s in the hashtag format. Take this as an opportunity to revisit your target keywords, and ensure they are incorporated across your content and profile pages.
Rabbit Hole of the Week
We’re obsessed with internet rabbit holes. Here’s one we dug into this week:
?? Saturn Return ??
Ariana. Kacey Musgraves. Kendrick Lamar. No Doubt. What do all of these musicians have in common? They’ve all been inspired by their Saturn Return.
Saturn Return describes the 29.5 years it takes for Saturn to return to the same position it was in when you were born. This occurs at the end of your 20s, 50s, and 80s, and is said to be a time of profound growth and transformation, setting the stage for the next chapter in your life.?
While a few artists have brought Saturn back in conversation more recently, this is not the first nor last time we will see this trend make its return. In another two years, Saturn will enter Aries and a whole new set of people will be embarking on this journey. But what makes this one special are the folks going through the motions right now: think Harry Styles and Zendaya to name a few.
If you’re currently in the middle of one of your returns, stay in line! This is a powerful and exciting time. Enjoy the ride and the lessons along the way.
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Alt Text is brought to you by Methods+Mastery. Our insatiable curiosity and hunger to understand the world around us is what fuels our mission. We go down cultural rabbit holes to understand how trends form and how people think and behave — all so we can build work that works.
Disclosure: Methods+Mastery serves multiple clients. Those clients and/or their peers and competitors may be included in Alt Text, if we feel they’re relevant to what’s trending in social. We always disclose direct client relationships and affiliations.?