# How to avoid AI-looking ads

> AI ads get scrolled past when they look fake. Eight fixes for faces, hands, text, voice and motion, plus a simple test to see if your fixes work.
- **Author**: Marxx
- **Published**: 2026-10-25
- **Category**: Creative
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/library-guides/how-to-avoid-ai-looking-ads

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To avoid AI-looking ads, start from a real photo, real footage or a real voice, and fix the usual tells: plastic skin, odd hands, garbled text, flat voices and floaty motion. Then test the result against a plain, real version.

## Eight fixes

| Tell | Fix |
|---|---|
| Plastic skin with no pores | Use a real face, or add film grain and keep the framing slightly imperfect |
| Odd hands and fingers | Crop hands out, or show one clear grip on the product. Regenerate until it is right |
| Garbled text and logos | Never let AI draw text or your logo. Add them in your editor |
| The product looks off | Start from your real product photo and let AI build only the background |
| Perfect light everywhere | Match the light direction and add soft shadows. Phone footage is rarely perfect |
| Floaty motion | Keep clips short, cut often and avoid fast gestures |
| A flat, even voice | Choose a voice with pauses, read the script aloud first, and use a real voice for key lines |
| A generic, stock-looking set | Use settings your buyer knows, such as a real kitchen, shop counter or auto-rickshaw seat |

## What Meta does about AI

Meta labels ad images that were created or materially edited with its own generative AI tools as "AI info", usually in the ad's three-dot menu. If the image shows an AI-generated, photorealistic person, the label sits next to the sponsored label at the top of the ad. Meta also says not every ad that uses AI will carry it (checked 2026-10-20, [source](https://www.meta.com/help/artificial-intelligence/355108217670024/)). Do not count on a label being absent. Make ads you would be happy to see labelled.

## A worked example

Say you sell a INR 699 kitchen organiser. You make three versions of one ad and run each at INR 1,000 a day for four days.

| Version | Hook rate | Cost per purchase |
|---|---|---|
| A: raw AI video, AI text | 22% | INR 780 |
| B: AI scene, your real product photo, typed text | 31% | INR 560 |
| C: phone video of a real creator | 36% | INR 520 |

Fixing the tells (A to B) cut cost per purchase by 28%. Real footage (C) did a little better still. Your numbers will differ, so run your own test. [Hook rate](/glossary/hook-rate) is the share of impressions that become a three-second video play.

## Mistakes to avoid

- **Fixing the face and ignoring the voice.** People notice a flat voice fast.
- **Using one AI look for every ad.** Sameness is a tell too.
- **Making claims the product cannot back up,** because a polished video makes them feel more real than they are.
- **Using someone's real face without their permission.**

AI and real footage are not enemies, and you can mix them. See [AI UGC vs human UGC](/compare/ai-ugc-vs-human-ugc) to decide where each fits, and [UGC ads](/glossary/ugc-ads) for what real creator video does well. If you hire creators, use [how to brief UGC creators](/guides/how-to-brief-ugc-creators). Picking a tool? Read [how to choose an AI video model for ads](/guides/how-to-choose-an-ai-video-model-for-ads). For Hindi versions of one ad, see [how to dub ads into Hindi](/guides/how-to-dub-ads-into-hindi).

We make Marxx. Its production canvas covers image, video, voice, dubbing, avatars and UGC in one place, and publishes ads to Meta.

## FAQ

### Do AI ads perform worse than real ones?

It depends on the ad and the audience. Raw, unedited AI output often looks fake, and fixing the tells usually helps. Test your own versions.

### Does Meta label every AI ad?

No. Meta labels ads made with its own generative tools when the edits are material, and says the rollout is gradual. Ads made with other tools may not be labelled.

### What is the fastest fix?

Add your real product photo and type the text yourself. Those two changes remove the tells people spot first.

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