With Luigi Mangione still in prison, many people were surprised to see that assassinating CEOs might not have been the only gig he had. Chinese clothing brand Shein has recently put itself into the spotlight after apparently using the killer as a model for a short-sleeved floral shirt. We all know Mangione was said to be “hot” at the time, but no one could have expected a huge global brand to be using the murderous icon as a model. However, once people caught wind of the photo, it was quickly taken down.
“The image in question was provided by a third-party vendor and was removed immediately upon discovery,” Shein told BBC, claiming that the company is now investigating the situation and the vendor involved. It goes without saying that Luigi Mangione couldn’t have taken the photo since he’s currently detained, and most likely, he wasn’t into modeling before he ‘took up the gun.’ So where did the image come from? Many people, including deepfake expert Henry Ajder, claim that the photo is likely AI-generated.
Mangione is no stranger to being used in memes across the internet. But his likeness being used in a professional setting and allegedly AI-edited as a product’s marketing model has caused quite the stir. “This feels straight out of a Black Mirror episode,” remarks a Redditor. “Yeah this is really unsettling,” agreed another. Other commenters pointed out how it’s wrong for someone to be used to promote and sell products without compensation, and especially not without their consent. Even though Shein claims it was just a mistake on its part, it’s still rather dystopian that this sort of incident can happen now, with AI being so developed in today’s age.
“China trolling us badly on this one,” joked a commenter on Instagram, implying that, because Shein is a Chinese-founded company, someone from China was intentionally trying to make a joke out of the whole Mangione trial. But the CEO killer aside, many online users are discussing how unethical and bad of a company Shein is, compared to even a massive corporation like Amazon. From cheap, “fake” products to shady influencer marketing, it seems like many people have purchased from Shein, but they also don’t think very highly of the brand. “Shein is worse for the world than Luigi,” remarks a Reddit user.
Whatever the case, this whole fiasco is unlikely to affect Mangione’s upcoming court appointment this month, but it does spark the controversy of companies possibly using AI-generated images of well-known people for marketing. Ethical or not, for-profit businesses will and have been turning to whatever methods are cheapest. If using AI is more cost-effective than hiring models or famous celebrities, they’ll probably do it.
