--- title: "Steak-umm Uses Deepfakes to Make Vegans Devour Meat" description: "In a bizarre public service announcement, the Steak-umm meat brand created deepfake videos of vegans eating meat." date: "2023-11-04" modified: "2023-11-04" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/steak-umm-vegans-deepfake" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "deepfake" - "meat" - "psa" - "the digest" --- # Steak-umm Uses Deepfakes to Make Vegans Devour Meat ![In a bizarre public service announcement, the Steak-umm meat brand created deepfake videos of vegans eating meat.]() *\Image: Steak-umm\* ## Eat Up In a bizarre public service announcement, the Steak-umm meat brand created deepfake videos of vegans eating meat — and then played those same manipulated videos back to the horrified vegans, who were not at all pleased. As [*Adweek* reports](), the meat brand known for its [uniquely viral approach to social media strategy]() has again outdone itself in a collaboration with the ad agency Tombras meant to bring attention to the dangers of AI manipulation (and, of course, to sell Steak-umm products.) In the PSA, a group of vegans are brought into a nondescript building and filmed discussing their commitment to their dietary choices. The tables turn, however, when the participants are shown being brought sandwiches purporting to be full of Steak-umm brand sliced steak and canned cheese spread in the class Philly cheesesteak style. Suddenly, those same vegans are seen devouring the meat hoagies and espousing the "moral" nature of eating animals, with some declaring their love for animal products. The clip flashes back to the vegans in question after they watch the clips of themselves appearing to eat meat, with participants insisting that the "gaslighting" videos are not of them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIfv22BQ1Y0 ## Turn Tables As the video proceeds to explain, the sandwiches subjects had been brought were actually completely vegan, but using that same footage, the Tombras team was able to manipulate the videos to make it look and sound like the participants were *really* into eating meat. In the PSA's accompanying website, [DeepSteaks.AI](), Steak-umm explains that it's raising awareness for the [DEEP FAKES Accountability Act](), which was first introduced in 2019 and aims to "combat the spread of disinformation through restrictions on deep-fake video alteration technology." As agency president Dooley Tombras told *Adweek*, the video's subjects gave pitch-perfect performances for the PSA during the Austin-based shoot earlier this fall. "We didn’t spend months \[manipulating the video\] — it took about 20 minutes," Tombras said. "The hope was to get a rise out of them, and it worked — they were surprised, then angry." ## Anti-Meat Aktion Once the experiment was explained to the participants, they were apparently enthusiastic about the project. "So many people are quick to believe what they see and hear off the bat without doing any research to where this could literally start wars," one woman said — a prescient statement given that both Israel and Hamas have been [accused of using deepfake imagery]() in their current armed conflict. While the tastefulness of the vegan stunt may be questionable, at least Tombras and Steak-umm appear interested in showing how this technology could be used to harm the little guy, in addition to the rich and powerful. "If a deepfake can make a vegan say they love meat," the DeepSteaks.AI website reads, "imagine what a deepfake could make you say." **More on AI manipulations:** *[AI Lets Johnny Cash Cover Taylor Swift From Beyond the Grave]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()