Pure animation, no AI: Liza Soberano reacts to her avatars in new commercial

MANILA, Philippines — The many digital and artistic renditions of actress Liza Soberano in her new commercial as BYS’ new endorser make one wonder if Artificial Intelligence (AI) was used in the ad, for which the international cosmetics label quickly dismissed as “No!”.

“No, it’s animation. Everything is animation,” a BYS Philippines representative clarified to Philstar.com while the media outlet was having an exclusive interview with Soberano following her launch as endorser last Tuesday in SMX, SM Aura, Taguig City.

Soberano is a member of Hollywood’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG), for which she debuted at the SAG Awards last February.

Related: Liza Soberano debuts at Screen Actors Guild Awards 2024

It can be recalled that many SAG members, including actors and writers, went on strike and 118-day picket lines last year to protest against film studios’ use of AI to create realistic digital copies of performers, to utilize "for the rest of eternity, in any project they want" – “all for the payment of one day's work,” according to an Agence France-Presse report.

Soberano, however, is very “amazed” by her new BYS commercial.

“My reaction to the commercial, I was really amazed by it. I haven't really done commercials like that where there was a lot of animation yet. So it was really cool to see and it was really cool to see myself actually animated in five different types of animation styles. I thought that was really great!” Liza told Philstar.com.

“You can tell that there was a lot of time and money spent on the commercial,” she winked.

“So I really am grateful and appreciative of that and I think it was just a really cool, progressive commercial for the brand!”

According to her, what makes the skincare and cosmetics label standout as a brand is just like her commercial, the brand “champions creativity, diversity and innovation with all their products.”

“I think that they have a lot of integrity as a brand and so they really value everything that is kind of launched to the public, right?” she noted.

“And so I love that they're constantly thinking of ways of how to be creative and tapping the market and introducing their products to the market and reaching different types of demographics and helping them resonate to the brand. I think that's one thing that they do very well.”

John Lozano, Chief Marketing Officer of IFace Inc., BYS Philippines official distributor, explained to Philstar.com in a separate interview why they tapped Liza and TikTok star Niana Guerrero as new endorsers.

“I mean, it's a no brainer for us to get Liza,” Lozano said.

“She's arguably the most beautiful face in the Philippines. I mean, we're a makeup brand and we celebrate beauty. So it just makes sense to get the prettiest face in the country as our endorser,” he expounded.

Liza, in particular, would embody the brand’s Core and Hybrid Heroes lines, which explains why Liza’s commercial is full of her superhero incarnations. 

The brand’s latest line, Hybrid Heroes, is called as such, Lozano said, because “it’s a fusion of skincare and makeup.” 

“We're very excited about that and Liza is the face of that line, which is among the hybrid makeup we have,” he said. “I'm proud of all of them (Hybrid Heroes products) because right now, the trend in makeup is all about infusing skincare benefits because nowadays, a lot of girls and guys put on makeup on a daily basis. So it's nice to have skin-loving ingredients in your makeup para naman, you don't feel so guilty piling on so much.” — Video by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo, video editing by EC Toledo