Bruce Willis, well known for his role in Die Hard, is reportedly the star of a new series of advertisements for Russian phone and internet provider MegaFon. Except he isn’t… but a Deepfake of him is.

In the new ad, Bruce Willis speaks Russian fluently. Based on the last two decades of work, his acting is on par with Bruce Willis’ — that is, he acts like an extremely hungover-yet-affable crossing guard. Bruce Willis, on the other hand, doesn’t speak a word of Russian (that we know of), and his bored, robotic line delivery could be imitated by even the most inept imitation. Thanks to new deepfake technology, that’s exactly what occurred.

For 15 episodes of the new ad campaign, the firm employed face-generating technology to “exploit” the “Die Hard” celebrity.

The technology, which is becoming more efficient, can digitally put someone’s face onto another person’s body, and if you think that’s a bit uncomfortable, you’re not alone.

MegaFon used this face-generating technology to digitally place Bruce Willis’ face over another actor, according to Russia Beyond, all while Willis was safe at home in the United States. He did get a “unannounced fee for the licensing of his facial features and the use of his Die Hard character in the marketing campaign,” according to Russia Beyond. This payment may be worth somewhere between $1 and $2 million, according to Russian advertising specialists.

Sostav, a Russian language website, recently spoke with two higher-ups at MegaFon, the telecom business mainly responsible for the concept, about the entertainment industry’s Pandora’s box of bizarre knock-offs, avarice, and sloth. “We realized that we can deliver high-quality content without becoming hostages of pandemic restrictions on movement around the world. The use of technology allows you to shoot content faster and for less money than attracting celebrities to the set,” said VasilyBolshakov, MegaFon’s Director for Brand and Marketing Communications.

“The image of [Bruce Willis’] ‘Die Hard’ character in the series will be created with the help of the face generation technology, which is based on neural network algorithms. To make this happen, the engineers of the Deepcake studio selected a large volume of photos and videos featuring the celebrity. They had 34,000 units of content which were used by the neural network to create the image of Bruce Willis’ character,” said VasiliBolshakov.

Willis appears alongside Russian actor Azamat Musagaliev in a commercial for MegaFon, which Google describes as “Russia’s second-largest mobile phone operator and third-largest telecom operator.”

Bolshakov claims that he and his team aren’t attempting to deceive anyone with this new initiative, and that seeing Bruce Willis “as we remember him” is a positive experience for fans.

“We openly declare the technology we use and do not mislead anyone. On the contrary, we believe that seeing Bruce as [we remember him] from ‘Die Hard’ and ‘The Fifth Element’ in a new role is a great opportunity for all of us,” said Bolshakov.

However, the initiative will have far-reaching consequences that go beyond a series of corny Russian cell phone commercials. We’ve officially entered a new era of licensing one’s image, and it’s difficult to predict where the combination of ethics, economics, and creativity will lead us.

The usage of Hollywood celebrity pictures in Russian marketing efforts is not new; numerous firms have previously cooperated with a variety of Hollywood celebrities. The employment of face-generating technology, on the other hand, offers the option of conducting production at periods when COVID-19 constraints prevent intercontinental travel and, most significantly, keeps the budget under control.

‘Willis signed off on this whole thing,’ Bolshakov stated in an interview.

“All negotiations with Bruce Willis were conducted by our team. It was a very risky idea, but surprisingly, the discussion on collaboration was quick and productive. We told Bruce about MegaFon and the idea of the project. The actor was interested in the brand and our approach to organizing production.”

Deepfakes aren’t new, but they’re not without controversy, especially when they’re employed on the bodies of deceased individuals without their permission, or by crooks who use them to steal $240,000.