AI can do a lot of things, but it can’t manufacture realness. That’s the message from Pamela Anderson and Aerie as the latter doubles down on its commitment to authenticity in marketing.
The clothing brand owned by American Eagle Outfitters has partnered with the actress and model in the next chapter of its “100% Aerie Real” campaign. The collaboration builds on the brand’s Oct. 2025 pledge to never use AI to create images of people or bodies in its campaigns, which itself followed Aerie’s 2014 promise to not retouch people and bodies in its advertising.
With Anderson, Aerie aims to bring that message to a broader audience and rally other brands behind its AI stance.
“Our goal is to put that message out there and challenge the industry to think about what AI means to your consumer,” Aerie chief marketing officer Stacey McCormick told ADWEEK.
The new ad contrasts a cold, AI-generated world with the warmth and humanity of an Aerie photo shoot. In the background, Anderson’s voice is heard prompting an AI system to populate models on screen.
As she urges AI to bring more authenticity and feeling to the experience and gets nothing back, the artificial scene dissolves and the models come alive in a real, energetic environment.
Anderson, known for her role in the 1990s series Baywatch, has since embraced a more stripped-back look, making her a natural choice for Aerie. She is “a cultural force who has spent decades reclaiming and showing up as her authentic self. She stands for everything we stand for and stand up to,” McCormick said. “We’re getting the word across that you can’t prompt realness.”
The campaign, created by Shadow Creative Marketing & Communications and directed by Gemma Warren, will run across paid, owned, and earned social channels, including placements on Youtube, Amazon Prime, Video, Netflix, Hulu and Disney, HBO, NBCU, Roku, and Samsung.
Striking a chord
Aerie’s October pledge resonated with consumers craving transparency, McCormick said, pointing to a positive reaction from many followers on social media.
It paid off for the brand, too, which previously “was not top of mind for a lot of consumers,” she said. The launch of “100% Aerie Real” led to a double-digit increase in brand awareness from October through the end of 2025 and is “continuing to grow,” she added.
