At Kumba, we’ve built a platform that generates highly realistic ad videos across brands and use cases. I’m proud of what our team has created.
Lately, though, some of the brands and agencies we speak with have hesitated. Their concern: AI videos don’t look “realistic” enough, and the authenticity of an apparel, beauty, or other category-specific product gets lost when AI is involved. It’s a fair concern, and it deserves a straight answer.
Ads have always been larger than life
Advertising has never been a documentary. Great ads extrapolate, exaggerate, and imagine. That’s where the creativity and the fun come from. Look at the ads that drove the highest conversions and went viral, and you’ll almost always find three things:
A strong hook and message that keeps viewers engaged, thrilled, and watching.
Stunning Visuals: High-impact, memorable creatives.
Engaging Audio: A powerful soundtrack or voiceover that sets the mood.
AI video is remarkably good at all three, provided it’s fed high-quality product images. Models like Seedance and Kling have become strikingly realistic, and that’s hard to argue with.
A vast majority of iconic ads have always exaggerated key features to capture attention. If they didn’t, they’d be documentaries, not advertisements.
Where authenticity really matters
The real line isn’t between “real” and “AI.” It’s between creative exaggeration and misrepresenting the product. A dress should look like the dress the customer will receive. A shade of lipstick should be the shade in the bottle. That’s why starting from the brand’s own product imagery matters: the AI builds the story around the real product rather than reinventing it.
The reluctance from some agencies or middle managers usually comes down to two things: either they are falling prey to misconceptions about AI video, or they simply don’t understand how to use it yet and are afraid to adapt.
Try it before you judge it
Rather than debating it in the abstract, I’d invite skeptics to see it for themselves. Send us your product images, and we’ll show you an ad you can compare against your current creative or try it yourself on app.kumba.ai
The future of high-converting, creative video ad production is already here. Don’t let fear hold your brand back.