Deepfakes Awareness: Steak-umm Anti-Misinformation

DeepSteaks was a Steak-umm campaign we made at Tombras in October 2023. Real vegans were invited to what they believed was a focus group about their diet. Behind the scenes, a production team directed by Jason Woliner built a deepfake of each participant in about twenty minutes, then played it back to them saying things they had never said.

The reactions were the point. “That’s not what I said.” “Those words did not come out of my mouth.” It ran as a public service announcement, pointing people to a petition for the DEEP FAKES Accountability Act and to guidance on spotting manipulated video. It came out of the same brand position as the Meataversity: a frozen beef company taking misinformation seriously.