Thanks to deepfake technology, legendary cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar is featured in a new campaign – as an 11-year-old. The campaign, created by VMLY&R for Ageas Federal Life Insurance (AFLI) used custom DeepFake AI video regeneration technology to re-create a young Sachin.
According to VMLY&R, this is the first time DeepFake AI video technology has been used in a campaign to de-age a person by over 35 years. Since there was very little training material to aid the AI, VMLY&R created a custom process that blended AI, CG, and live shoot to achieve the desired result.
“It’s amazing what we can do with technology. We can tell stories that could have never been told before,” said Mukund Olety, Chief Creative Officer, VMLY&R India.
“We wanted an inspiring figure to convince parents to overcome their fears with better financial planning from Ageas Federal Life Insurance, and who better than our protagonist – the 11-year-old Sachin. While we knew this was something we could achieve using technologies such as DeepFake AI, unfortunately for us, we didn’t have any pre-existing videos of Sachin as a child. Instead of letting that stop us, we found our way through custom tech innovations.”
Mukund further added, “This is perhaps the first time a person or celebrity is being de-aged by so many years. Not just that, even the voice is de-aged. We recorded the adult Sachin and de-aged his voice to make sure it had realistic notes and nuances, things people recognize about him today.
The campaign aims to inspire parents to financially secure their child’s future and allow them to pursue their fearless dreams. As a child, Sachin faced many challenges and hurdles, yet he followed his instincts and became one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket.
