Legal/Regulatory

DM9’s Cannes controversy deepens, US senator sues Omnicom, DDB and DM9 over AI-manipulated entry

After the Grand Prix was stripped, DM9’s case study on appliance energy costs is now at the centre of a legal complaint.

Campaign Asia-Pacific Staff

August 26, 2025

9:14 am

A screenshot from DM9’s ‘Efficient Way to Pay’ campaign.

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A US state senator has filed a complaint against Whirlpool, Omnicom Group, DDB, São Paulo-based agency DM9 and several other subsidiaries, alleging that parts of her 2018 TED Talk were manipulated using AI and included in DM9’s Cannes Lions-winning case study video without her consent, AdAge first reported.

State Senator DeAndrea Salvador complained on August 20 in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and claimed that her name, image, and likeness were unlawfully altered for the ‘Efficient Way to Pay’ campaign, produced for appliance brand Consul, whose parent company, Whirlpool, is also named as a defendant.

Salvador said the unauthorised use left her “shocked, violated, and deeply unsettled,” and she experienced “significant emotional distress.” She is seeking financial compensation for reputational and emotional harm, with the amount to be determined at trial.

The campaign, which aimed to show how outdated appliances drive up energy bills, initially scooped the Creative Data Grand Prix and a bronze at the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. But the win quickly spiralled into controversy when claims emerged that the case study had been padded with AI-manipulated footage and overstated results. Within a week, Cannes confirmed the entry had been mutually withdrawn after discussions with DM9.

In June, the scandal triggered internal fallout at the agency. DM9 co-president and CEO Pipo Calazans apologised via LinkedIn, stressed that the brand had no role in the errors, and announced plans to form an AI Ethics Committee to oversee responsible use of artificial intelligence. Co-president and chief creative officer Ícaro Doria stepped down and took “full responsibility” for the controversy. To add to the woes, CNN Brasil also lodged a complaint alleging that one of its news segments was also altered with AI in the same case study video. CNN Brasil later dropped the matter after DM9 issued a public apology.

This story first appeared on Campaign Asia-Pacific.

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DM9’s Cannes controversy deepens, US senator sues Omnicom, DDB and DM9 over AI-manipulated entry

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