McAfee's "Keep It Real" Campaign: Using AI to Reinforce Brand Trust.
When AI Inauthenticity Becomes the Point
McAfee sells products that help people spot AI-generated scams. So when their marketing team wanted to use AI to create a consumer education campaign about phishing, they faced an awkward question: Wouldn't that make us hypocrites?
The challenge was real. They needed to launch fast, a traditional photoshoot would take too long. Stock imagery wouldn't have the impact they needed. And realistic AI-generated humans? That would directly contradict everything their brand stands for.
Helen Lee, Director of Global Brand and Integrated Marketing at McAfee, had to find a way to use AI without undermining the very trust McAfee's reputation depends on.
The Constraint that Sparked Creativity
Most brands worry about whether AI-generated content looks realistic enough. McAfee had the opposite problem: realistic AI content would damage their brand.
"McAfee is very careful about how we use AI, since we're a digital security company," says Helen. "Because we have products that spot scams, it would be hypocritical to use synthetic humans in campaigns unless we're owning that the images aren't real."
The team needed to ship at a speed that called for AI, stay true to McAfee's brand values around authenticity, create engaging content that educated consumers about phishing, and avoid anything that could be perceived as deceptive.
Traditional photoshoots would take too long. Stock imagery wouldn't deliver the impact. And realistic AI-generated humans violated their core brand principle.
The Solution: Lean into the Weirdness
The creative team made a deliberate choice: use AI's strangeness as a feature, not hide it.
They generated videos of humans gradually shifting into obviously impossible forms, people with three arms, unusual proportions, or other subtle visual tells that something isn't quite right. The aesthetic was intentionally unsettling, impossible to mistake for reality.
"The campaign was all about the importance of looking twice," says Helen. The visual approach reinforced the message: things aren't always what they seem online. By deliberately avoiding realistic imagery, they used AI to reinforce trust rather than compromise it, created memorable attention-grabbing content that people would actually notice, stayed aligned with their brand values around digital security and transparency, and shipped on the timeline they needed without lengthy production.
The limitation became the creative direction. The constraint forced them to think differently and ultimately created something more distinctive than a standard photoshoot would have produced.
The Brand Alignment Framework
McAfee's experience reveals a decision-making process other brands can adapt. Before using AI in any campaign, they run it through three filters.
Filter 1: Does this support or contradict our core brand promise?
McAfee's brand promise is digital safety and transparency. Using AI to create deceptively realistic content would directly contradict that promise. Using AI in an obviously artificial way? That actually reinforces the message to "look twice."
For your brand, ask: What do we promise customers? Does this AI application strengthen that promise or weaken it?
Filter 2: If our use of AI became public, would we be proud or defensive?
Imagine the headline: "Security Company Uses AI to Create Fake People in Marketing Campaign." Even if technically accurate, that headline would be devastating for McAfee.
Now imagine: "Security Company Uses Obviously Fake AI Imagery to Teach Phishing Awareness." That's a story they'd be happy to tell.
The headline test cuts through complexity fast.
Filter 3: Does this create the outcome we need within our constraints?
AI had to deliver speed without compromising brand integrity. The "obviously AI" approach achieved both. It was faster than traditional production and more aligned with their brand values than stock photography.
For your brand, ask: What constraints are we working within? Does AI help us achieve our goals while respecting those boundaries?
The Risk Spectrum: Where Different Brands Draw Different Lines
What's right for McAfee isn't universal. The key is understanding where AI fits for your specific brand.
For McAfee: Realistic AI imagery in marketing = high risk. Obviously artificial AI imagery that supports their educational mission = acceptable.
For Ikea: AI-generated catalog product images = low risk. The focus is on furniture, not lifestyle aspiration or human authenticity.
For fashion brands: AI-generated lifestyle imagery might create trust issues if customers discover models aren't real. But AI for background removal or color variations? Likely fine.
For financial services: AI-generated customer testimonials = extremely high risk, even if based on real feedback. AI for operational efficiency? Low risk.
The pattern: brands built on trust, authenticity, or expertise face higher risks when AI touches customer-facing content. Brands focused on products or transactions have more flexibility.
Implementation Guide: The McAfee Decision Framework
Three Questions Before Using AI in Campaigns
Question 1: What could damage our brand if we got this wrong? For McAfee, it was authenticity and trustworthiness. For a healthcare brand, it might be medical accuracy. For a luxury brand, it might be craftsmanship and exclusivity.
List your three most important brand attributes. These become your non-negotiables.
Question 2: How can AI support our values instead of undermining them? Don't just avoid AI applications that contradict your brand. Actively look for ways AI can strengthen your message.
McAfee found that obviously artificial AI actually reinforced their "look twice" message better than realistic imagery would have.
Question 3: Are we being transparent about what we're doing? The campaign explicitly acknowledged the AI-generated elements. No one was being fooled—which was exactly the point.
Decide your disclosure policy before you need it. When will you label content as AI-generated? When is disclosure unnecessary? Document the decision so it's consistent.
Four Scenarios: When to Use AI, When to Avoid It
Scenario 1: Speed is critical, but authenticity is your brand McAfee's solution: Use AI in a way that's obviously artificial and supports your message about authenticity.
Scenario 2: Your audience values craftsmanship Consider: Skip AI for hero content. Use it for operational tasks behind the scenes.
Scenario 3: You're in a regulated industry Approach: Be extremely conservative. Default to human-created content unless you have explicit legal approval.
Scenario 4: Your brand is built on being cutting-edge Opportunity: Being an early, transparent AI adopter might strengthen your positioning.
The Transparency Spectrum
Always disclose:
AI-generated imagery used as primary content (not just background elements)
AI-written content published under your brand voice without significant human editing
Any application where non-disclosure could be perceived as deceptive
Consider disclosing:
AI-assisted content where humans made substantial creative decisions
Industry contexts where transparency builds trust
Audiences who value knowing your process
Disclosure usually unnecessary:
AI used for internal operations (scheduling, data analysis, workflow automation)
Background editing tasks (image enhancement, color correction)
AI as one tool among many in a primarily human creative process
What McAfee Learned
The campaign succeeded beyond speed metrics. It created conversations about AI and authenticity—exactly the territory McAfee wanted to own. It differentiated them from competitors who were either avoiding AI entirely or using it without strategic thought. It gave their team confidence to experiment with AI in other contexts, now that they had a framework for making decisions.
Most importantly, it proved that constraints don't limit creativity—sometimes they force you to find better solutions.
"Marketing teams can do things that are really fun and fantastical, but that begs the question: when is that the right choice?" says Helen. "There are a lot of question marks around when you should use AI in creative production, or even whether you should use it at all."
Real-World Application: Your Brand Audit
Take fifteen minutes and audit one upcoming campaign through McAfee's lens:
Step 1: Write down your three most important brand attributes.
Step 2: List any AI applications you're considering for this campaign.
Step 3: For each AI application, ask:
Does this support or contradict our core brand promise?
If this became public, would we be proud or defensive?
Does this achieve our goals within our constraints?
Step 4: For any application that feels risky, ask: Is there a way to use AI that actually reinforces our brand values instead?
Sometimes the answer is "don't use AI here." That's a valid outcome. Better to identify that now than after launch.
The Broader Principle
McAfee's approach reveals something essential: the companies winning with AI aren't the ones using it most aggressively. They're the ones using it most thoughtfully, in ways that align with who they are.
"There are no default standards for AI policies or governance right now," says Helen. "Every leader has to ask themselves how comfortable they are with using AI in relation to their business."
Your brand values should guide your AI decisions, not the other way around. Don't adopt AI capabilities and then figure out if they fit your brand. Start with your brand, then find AI applications that strengthen it.
Bottom Line
You don't have to choose between using AI and maintaining brand integrity. The key is being intentional about how you use it.
Sometimes the smartest move is making the AI obvious rather than hiding it. Sometimes it's using AI behind the scenes and keeping the customer-facing work human. Sometimes it's avoiding AI entirely for applications that could erode trust.
McAfee proved that constraints breed creativity. When realistic AI was off the table, they found a solution that was faster, more distinctive, and more aligned with their message than traditional production would have been.
The limitation became their competitive advantage.
