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Key Takeaways

A flat, AI-generated talking head can earn a view without ever earning trust.

Faking a customer or owner can cost far more than a film crew, and you may not even own the result.

Give every story an arc, then film the life your people describe, not just the interview.

Last month, I stood in a breakout room at a franchise conference and played three videos for a small group of brand leaders. The first was an AI-generated ad: a woman with perfect abs, a glowing bottle of juice, four flavor names and nothing else. The second was an AI avatar reciting a consulting firm’s 18 years of experience. The third was a real franchisee. She had left health care burned out, and later kept her late husband’s business running in his memory.

I asked how the first two made them feel. One man said, “It had no emotional impact on me at all.” I told him we should put that on a shirt.

Then I asked who liked the third video. Every hand went up.…