Virtual Influencers – They Don’t Age, They Don’t Sleep, They Don’t Complain

We have not yet fully digested the fact that influencers buy fake followers to inflate their popularity and follower counts, and already we have a new trend that will be even harder to swallow – fake influencers. Their popularity is rising rapidly, and they don’t even need to buy fake followers when real fans provide them with attention and sponsors with contracts.

If you are not familiar with Lil Miquela, or Miquela Sousa, her 3.1 million followers on Instagram certainly know who she is, as do the brands that are literally scrambling to sign contracts with the people who created her. Lil is a fictional American character created by Trevor McFedries and Sara DeCou, who are behind the company Brud, a mysterious firm that, as they state on their website, creates virtual people. And they have indeed created a woman who not only has profiles on all social media but also promotes various digital brands, primarily fashion, with some of the brands she has promoted being Calvin Klein and Prada. That is not, as expected, all. Lil releases songs, and she is on her way to becoming a popular virtual singer.

But this is just the beginning. Now another company, Superplastic, based in Vermont, wants to create its own set of digital influencers. Superplastic is a startup founded by Paul Budnitz, who previously founded the designer toy company KidRobot. Similar to Marvel, Superplastic aims to build an entire virtual world around cartoon characters, writes TechCrunch, and they would include Guggimon, a DJ and horror artist, Janky, a “streetwear icon,” and Dayzee, a flirty nuclear physicist.

Soon to be in a movie

All of them are already present on social media as well as in the game “Fortnite,” where their ‘skins’ exist, and of course, marketing has eagerly awaited the collaboration; they are already working with brands like Tommy Hilfiger. But that’s not all; the trio will soon have their own movie.

Namely, Amazon’s Alexa Fund led a $20 million funding round for Superplastic, and Amazon Studios will produce an animated comedy featuring the trio. Given that Guggimon will be talking about drinks and pills in it, the cartoon will certainly not be aimed at children, but it could fit well with Amazon’s hits like “The Boys” and “Invincible.”

They Don’t Sleep, They Don’t Age, They Don’t Complain

People are already buying things worn by their favorite TV characters, just look at the buzz around Pedro Pascal’s jacket in the series “The Last of Us” as he slays zombies and saves Ellie, and if actors can sell such products, many believe that virtual influencers can and will stimulate similar consumerism.

The Asian market, after all, is a good litmus test for such phenomena, and there, such influencers are already big names in all creative industries. Besides being cheap, an additional bonus is that they don’t sleep, they don’t age, and they don’t complain. They also do not get involved in scandals unless they are planned.