Every few weeks, a new product is crowned the next viral obsession and is pushed relentlessly on social media and sold via TikTok Shop. One minute it’s Dubai chocolate, the next it’s a blue lip stain that won’t budge for days. Nyla Arabiyat Prestige, a gold-bottled fragrance by My Perfumes, a fragrance house based in Dubai, is the latest product to catch fire online. But it’s not just the scent that’s raising eyebrows — it’s how it’s being sold. From AI-generated voiceovers to deep fakes of celebrities, the marketing tactics are testing the limits of what’s legal and ethical.
Anyone can be a marketer with TikTok shop (with benefits)
TikTok Shop offers a way for everyday users (not just influencers or big brands) to earn money by recommending products. Whether they have a small following or are just starting out, anyone can take part in promoting and selling items through content creation.
Users simply sign up as affiliates and gain access to a catalogue of products from various sellers. They can then choose which items to promote, create short-form videos featuring those products, and add clickable links directly in their content. When viewers purchase through these links, the creator earns a commission, making it a straightforward way to monetise engaging content.
TikTok Shop offers a low barrier to entry, as users don’t need to run a business, hold stock or create their own products. The platform’s algorithm supports visibility by pushing engaging content to the right audiences, even for newcomers. Once videos are published, they have the potential to generate ongoing commission, creating a source of passive income. By sharing authentic and helpful recommendations, users can also strengthen their personal brand. The entire shopping experience remains within the app, making it simple for users to turn views into sales.
In short, TikTok Shop is like having your own online shop, without the hassle, taking marketing out of the hands of the product owner/manufacturers.
On the surface, this is a harmless way to earn some cash and most of the time, it is! The majority of TikTok shop sellers will simply sit down in front of their phones, show watchers the product in real time, and tell them why it is good. However, not all sellers are taking this approach.
Deep Fake and AI
Since the beginning of time, marketing tactics utilise idolised persons, increasing sales with fans who see their stars tying themselves to a brand. Despite many consumers responding to TikTok sellers who are normal people, as if a family friend is introducing you to their favourite new find, people always engage with icons.
The idea of an ‘icon’ has significantly changed, particularly for younger generations who idolise content creators sharing their lives online, or reality stars they follow along with on their journey to ‘new fame’.
Using widely accessible and affordable tools, anyone with a smartphone can now generate voices to mimic the sound and likeness of these influencers, reality stars and pop singers. With re-edits of videos, the face of the person speaking out of shot, the generated voice states how they adore the product, ‘even if they don’t have it on camera right now.’
It may seem obvious in retrospect, but thousands of loyal fans have been curious or influenced by these scams to purchase the perfume under the guise that the women they respect ‘adore it.’
Rihanna, Love Island USA and Molly-Mae Hague
Three of the most viral approaches of AI-generated voiceovers have all surrounded the method to increase sales of the Nyla Arabiyat Prestige product.
However, the perfume distributor, My Perfumes, isn’t technically to blame. Due to the aforementioned structure of TikTok sellers gaining from selling the product, independent sellers working outside of their company have found their own ways of selling from their accounts.
Rihanna, the Barbadian singer with around 250 million records sold globally, has been unknowingly used to promote the perfume. In one viral edit, a real red carpet clip of her being asked about her fragrance cuts to a staged “at-home” scene, where someone with similar features uses AI to mimic her face and voice while holding the perfume. Other videos stitch together comments from co-stars and talk show hosts praising how she smells, reinforcing the false idea that she’s known in the industry for her scent.
Another approach of this AI marketing is piggybacking off the rising popularity of one islander on this summer’s Love Island USA. Huda Mustafa has captured the attention and hearts of fans of the show for her vulnerability, messiness and beauty, and TikTok sellers jumped on the talking point.
Whilst Huda was still on the show, with no access to her phone or contact with the outside world, unknown sellers edited clips from Love Island to sell the perfume. One example is mimicking the voices of the other islanders to discuss how great she smells and cutting to a deep fake scene of a man asking her what perfume she wears, I bet you can get what she ‘said’.
Finally, Molly-Mae Hague, one of the biggest YouTubers and influencers in the UK and business owner of popular tan line, Filter, and clothing brand, Maebe, is another example of being utilised against her knowledge to market the product. However, she addressed it.
In a recent video blog (vlog), Hague discusses with her sister an encounter she had with a fan in London, where the girl told her they bought the perfume as a birthday treat for a friend because of how much Molly ‘loved it’. Molly continues to say she hasn’t even smelt it and says the use of AI is ‘scary’.
Ethical questions, regulation and repercussions
The use of AI and deepfakes to replicate the likeness of public figures raises serious ethical and legal questions—especially in the context of influencer marketing. Celebrities and content creators often earn thousands for a single product endorsement. For many influencers, this kind of brand work isn’t a side hustle; it’s their main source of income. So, when others use their face, voice or persona without consent to sell a product effectively for free, it undermines both their livelihood and their right to control how they’re represented.
Some might argue it’s just part of being in the public eye, but legally, it’s far from harmless. In many countries, image rights and likeness laws give individuals the power to prevent the unauthorised commercial use of their identity. Yet enforcement can be patchy, and global platforms like TikTok make regulation even trickier.
I would also encourage brands to consider the repercussions of this technology, its legal boundries and to remember what these influencers have done for their products, and how they have reshaped the industry to make marketing their companies more accessible and widespread. I believe that business leaders should address this too, as it does and WILL affect their companies down the line – even if they don’t ‘like’ influencers.
Governments and legal bodies are beginning to wake up to the implications of AI misuse, but policy is still catching up. For brands and marketers, the question is not just “can we?” but “should we?”. As AI tools become more accessible, the lines around ethical marketing are blurring. Businesses would be wise to get ahead of regulation and stay on the right side of public trust.
