The clothing store PacSun has hired Instagram "influencer" Lil Miquela as their new model.
Miquela is a fake person created by a Los Angeles software company called Brud. The simulated human, who has 3 million followers on Instagram, previously did "modeling" work for Calvin Klein and often appears superimposed in photographs interacting with real humans.
Instagram posts on the @lilmiquela account generate confused but enthusiastic comments:
Surely they know that there is no Miquela there. What's disturbing is that people do know, but don't care. They seem to want to interact with an influencer, but don't care that the influencer they're interacting with isn't there at all.How you been ????
Bestie you look hot!
I love you
Some consider Miquela to be the future of branding. As a model "she’ll never age, clothes will always fit her perfectly in advertisements, and she’ll always do exactly what you ask of her," according to Input magazine.
Come to think of it, those are great qualifications for actors -- either wholly fabricated or re-creations of living actors.