China’s state-run
Global Times claimed on Sunday that “industry insiders” are expecting big-name brands to abandon celebrity endorsements and, instead, adopt “virtual idols” – animated holograms – in the near future to avoid personal scandals.
Human endorsements, the
Times noted, come with “high legal and moral risks” as brands cannot fully control the behavior of their spokespersons at all times. Virtual idols only behave in the way they are programmed, resulting in no risk of the animation falling into drug use, violence, or other criminal behavior. The state media outlet predicted the shift towards inanimate spokespersons in light of the arrest of Kris Wu, a Chinese-Canadian pop star arrested this week after a Chinese social media influencer accused him of sexual crimes, including statutory rape. Wu formerly served as a producer on the smash hit reality television program