Did Mo Salah, Dejan Lovren appear in 'deepfake' Pepsi ad? Some in Egypt think so

A sleek Mo Salah Pepsi ad apparently filmed in Alexandria, also featuring Croatian footballer Dejan Lovren, has left many in Egypt stunned due to apparent artifacts in the video, causing some to suspect the footage has been 'deepfaked'.

The advertisement for Pepsi Egypt dropped online earlier this week, featuring the footballing superstar and national hero Mo Salah roaming around the coastal city of Alexandria.

On Egyptian social media, some amateur sleuths insisted that Salah was not really in the video at all, but rather Pepsi had allegedly used AI to create a ‘deepfake’ of the Liverpool winger. 

The advertisement shows Salah and Lovren, ex-teammates at Liverpool and ae close friends off the field, visiting various famous Alexandrian landmarks, with Salah trying to hide his identity while they indulge in local popular Egyptian cuisine. The pair indulge in Kebda Iskandarani (Egyptian liver sandwiches), hawawshi and koshary – before washing it all down with Pepsi.

However, almost as soon as the advert dropped online, eagle-eyed Egyptians began to notice strange things about some of Salah’s facial expressions in the advert and distorted visual contrasts around his face. Many said they believe that the Salah in the advert was an AI-generated version of him or a body double – or a combination of the two. 

While some Egyptians lauded Pepsi and Salah for advertising Alexandria and local Egyptian cuisine, sceptics dismissed it as “fantasy” and claimed viewers were being hoodwinked.

“Many people saw the new Pepsi ad and liked Mohamed Salah’s performance, but they were surprised by his ability to act with his facial features, unlike many previous ads,” wrote Mohammed Al-Awamry on X.

“The secret is in AI and technology,” he concluded.

While the advert went down generally well with Egyptians on social media, speculation raged about how the player dubbed the ‘Egyptian King’ could have shot the advert in those locations without being mobbed by adoring fans.

The Salah AI Pepsi mystery was put to rest later with a video on TikTok of Dejan Lovren behind the scenes with a Salah lookalike.

شبيه محمد صلاح هو اللي عمل اعلان بيبسي مع لوفرين بالإسكندرية باستخدام الذكاء الاصطناعي pic.twitter.com/Zppb7JR10C

— Mona Lasheen (@mona30003000) September 19, 2023

The Salah impersonator, allegedly 23-year-old Mahmoud Farfour, introduces Lovren as “my friend” and then asks the Croatian to say hello to his fans, to which he says to the camera “Hello guys” before saying Farfour is “the best double ever”.

According to the online technology magazine Arab Hardware, Salah likely recorded his voice parts and certain facial expressions for the ad in England, with these then being superimposed using AI on the lookalike in postproduction.

The New Arab has reached out to Pepsi and Salah representatives for comment but are yet to receive a response.