Marisa Maiô is the first AI character to win a real advertising contract

She conquered the Brazilian internet with mocking phrases, absurd sketches and an unmistakable look: black swimsuit, high heels and just the right amount of sarcasm. Marisa Swimsuit is not just any presenter — in fact, she is not even human. Created entirely with AI, she is a virtual influencer who satirizes old talk shows with surreal scripts. In addition, her advertising appearances with big brands such as Magalu e OLX show that, in addition to making people laugh, it also points to the future of content creation and advertising with AI in Brazil.

Who is Marisa Maiô?

Marisa Swimsuit is a virtual character – presenter and digital influencer – created entirely with artificial intelligence. With the appearance of a middle-aged woman, always wearing a black swimsuit and high heels, she hosts a fictional talk show, full of absurd sketches, reminiscent of traditional Brazilian television formats.

The idea behind Marisa Swimsuit It's from Rio de Janeiro Raony Phillips, an actor, illustrator, screenwriter and content creator who was already known for projects such as Girls in the House, series made with dolls from The Sims. Raony defines scripts meticulously before generating videos of up to 8 seconds by AI, then stitching these sections together into a complete episode.

The engine behind the character is the ultra-realistic video generation model of Google, called I see. The first videos were created with the Veo 2 and, in the most recent ones, the Veo 3, adapted for the synthesis of speech, facial expressions, ambiance and soundtrack in a fluid and synchronized way. The technology allows, with simple textual descriptions, to produce scenes with an audience, street reporters, caricatured guests and agile edits.

The premiere of Marisa took place on June 3, 2025, with short episodes that went viral on social media X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok, surpassing the 1,7 million views mark in just a few days and reaching memes, viral and even trending topics. Facts such as a doctor asked about pimples (famous for the phrase “Just stop having them”) and pictures with improvised adoption became emblematic of the character.

Beyond entertainment, the phenomenon Marisa Swimsuit sparks debates about authenticity, ethics and the future of digital creation. The character challenges our perception of reality, sparks discussions about deepfakes, virtual identity and the new frontiers of creativity, showing that, in the intertwining between humanity and AI, these hybrid figures tend to gain more and more space.

Character creation with Google's Veo 3 AI

The creation of the character Marisa Swimsuit with AI Google Veo 3 Unlike videos generated with filters or deepfakes, the process involves a complete script, descriptive commands and the assembly of completely new scenes. Below, we show an example of what a typical step-by-step process would look like to generate a clip from the program. Marisa using the model I see 3.

Step 1: Access the Veo 3 AI platform

To start creating videos with the template I see 3, you need to subscribe to one of Google AI's paid plans, with prices starting at R $ 96,99 per month. There is no free version for the general public, but students can request a subscription free for one year of the plan Google AI Pro, using a valid educational email. After subscribing, you can choose between two platforms to use Veo 3: Gemini:, ideal for generating quick videos based on text prompts, or the Flow, a more advanced tool that allows you to edit, transform frames and export videos in higher resolution (up to 1080p).

No Gemini:, just go to the “Video” tab, type a text command and wait a few minutes. In Flow, you can start a new project and choose between creating from text or transforming images into dynamic videos.

Step 2: Writing the prompt for the model

Before any use of AI, the character creator, Raony Phillips, carefully writes the entire script for the episode. Every line, facial expression, camera cut and intonation is thought out in advance. As the I see generates short videos (between 4 and 8 seconds), it is necessary to divide the script into well-defined sections, each with a clear instruction. With the script ready, each section is transformed into a textual prompt. For example:

Mulher de meia-idade, cabelo escuro, maiô preto e salto alto, está em um palco iluminado, olhando para a câmera, diz com sarcasmo: ‘A culpa é do filtro solar?’”. 

The model interprets this description and generates a video based on it, including the setting, voice, intonation, and gestures. The generated video doesn’t always come out perfect, so it’s common to repeat the prompt with small changes until it achieves the desired tone. The creator can adjust details such as facial emotion, speech rate, camera framing, and visual style of the scene.

Step 3: Editing and publishing

After generating the excerpts with the I see 3, the videos are downloaded and edited in conventional editing software (such as Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve). At this stage, the creator stitches together the lines, inserts vignettes, sound effects, cuts and music, creating the structure of a complete auditorium program. Once the episode is finished, the content is adapted for social networks such as TikTok, Instagram and X, and automatic subtitles can be added, thumbnails and cuts designed to go viral.

Participation in advertising campaigns

Marisa Swimsuit made his triumphant entry into the commercial universe by starring in the Valentine's Day campaign for Magalu in June 2025. In the format of a comedy segment on her “audience show,” she conducted irreverent sketches, such as couples’ dates and cheating situations, all with her characteristic acid humor. The campaign culminated with the revelation that her famous black swimsuit “comes from Magalu,” transforming the iconic look into an object of desire and merchandised with discount coupons for consumers.

A Magalu took a smart stance by inserting Marisa Swimsuit at a culturally relevant time. According to Aline Izo, senior marketing manager at Magalu, the action aimed to “participate in the conversations in which the audience is involved”, combining humor and technology. The format proved effective in reinforcing the brand as a destination for gifts for the date, including perfumes, wines, electronics and even the character's own swimsuit.

The campaign brought spontaneity: Marisa interviewed caricatured guests – such as a lesbian couple and an absent-minded husband – and directed humor to everyday situations in which the Magalu offered solutions. The connection was made organically, with light merchandising insertions incorporated into the humor and fictional narrative, maintaining coherence with the style of program that consecrated the character on the networks.

A few days after the campaign with the Magalu, OLX also took advantage of the character's success and released a special video. In it, Marisa makes a direct recommendation to those looking for a car: “Go with OLX!”. The merchandising action was integrated into the content in a comical way, with the participation of the reporter juliana — another character on the show — which reinforces the nonsense “talk show” format and strengthens the universe created by Raony. It was a subtle but effective entry for the brand into a space where the audience is already engaged.

So much Magalu as OLX were right to explore the character's native language, respecting his mocking, fast and current style. Instead of transforming Marisa on a simple mobile billboard, brands adapted to its universe. The result was product insertions that seemed more like part of the story than direct advertisements. This helped maintain the authenticity of the content and reinforced the appeal to young audiences, especially on networks like TikTok and Instagram.

Other examples of AI in advertising

With the advancement of artificial intelligence, advertising has explored new creative frontiers through fully digital characters. These virtual influencers — created with technology ranging from CGI animation to generative AI — are gaining space in advertising campaigns for major brands around the world. Marisa Swimsuit is a recent Brazilian example of this movement, but she is not alone. Other figures have starred in advertisements, fashion shows and even product launches, connecting brands to young audiences in innovative and provocative ways.

Among the best known names is Lil miquela, a virtual influencer created by the startup Bride, in the United States, in 2016. Developed with CGI and later incorporating AI elements to respond to interactions, Miquela has already starred in campaigns for major brands such as Calvin Klein, Prada, Samsung and Nike. With a teen look and an engaged political stance, she has established herself as a hybrid digital personality of music, fashion and lifestyle, paving the way for other avatars in marketing.

Another example is shudu, the world's first virtual supermodel, created in 2017 by British photographer Cameron-James Wilson. Her ultra-realistic look — the result of 3D modeling and rendering with graphic AI — caught the attention of brands such as Balmain and Fenty Beauty, by Rihanna. Despite the discussions about representation that its creation provoked, shudu revealed the potential of AI as a tool to rethink the concept of beauty and the construction of identity in advertising.

In Asia and Europe, the movement gained even more strength with characters like Imma e Noonoouri. Imma, created by a Japanese company specializing in CGI, is known for her pink hair and modern look, having appeared in campaigns for IKEA, Diesel, and even Porsche. Already Noonoouri, an avatar with cartoonish features developed by German designer Jörg Zuber, starred in actions for brands such as Dior, Gucci, Burberry and collaborated with the Alibaba in the Chinese luxury market. Both were developed digitally and, with the support of artificial intelligence, came to life on social media, interacting with the public in real time.

In Spain, the virtual influencer Aitana Lopez has also been gaining prominence. Created by AI to represent the fitness and fashion niche, it already has hundreds of thousands of followers and has carried out actions with brands such as Olaplex and Intimissimi. The character is managed by a digital modeling agency and fed by algorithms that define everything from her posting routine to brand positioning. In India, the character Kyra, also created by AI, has partnered with Amazon Prime Video and John Jacobs, in addition to appearing on the digital cover of magazines such as Travel + Leisure.

Some campaigns directly exploit AI as a producer of complete advertising videos, as was the case with the tool TikTok Symphony, which generates entire ads with AI avatars interacting with products, and the betting platform's commercial Kalshi, shown during the finals of the NBA. The ad, generated with the template Google Veo 3, cost just US$2 and was created in less than three days — a revolution in the audiovisual production model.

All these cases point to a significant change in advertising: AI-generated characters are no longer experiments and have become protagonists in brand narratives, connecting high technology with creativity and digital presence.

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Source: Medium and Message.

Text proofread by: Daniel Coutinho in 17 / 06 / 2025