Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Separate ads, purportedly featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar, promoting a mobile game app, saying that you can make easy money.
Fact
No such endorsements, viral ads were found to be deepfakes.
A slew of ads, purportedly featuring Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, former Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev, promoting an online action game available on the iPhone App Store, “Aviator: Escape Apocalypse”, which promises easy money, have gone viral on Facebook. The ads can be seen here, here and here.
Fact Check
Newschecker first noticed that the lip movements of the “actors” in all the three ads did not sync with the audio.
We then ran a keyword search for “Aviator Escape apocalypse Sachin Tendulkar Shah Rukh Khan Kapil Dev”, which did not throw up any credible news reports about the celebrities endorsing such an app.
Meanwhile, Tendulkar had already in a Twitter post, dated January 15, 2024, criticised another deepfake video in which he seems to be promoting an online gaming app, “Skyward Aviator Quest”. The video reportedly showed him saying that his daughter used the gaming app regularly, similar to the viral ad, further raising our doubts.
Video 1
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Shah Rukh Khan Anupam Kher”, the two actors seen in the viral ad, which led us to this Youtube video of the Anupam Kher Show, uploaded by Colours TV, dated July 16, 2022. “Anupam Kher introduces the Badshah himself, Shah Rukh Khan! Watch Shah Rukh talk about personal details from his life, like his childhood name and his early lifestyle, hobbies, and activities! Did you know that Shah Rukh Khan’s mother didn’t want him to join Army School? A fantastic anchor, a whole bevy of much sought-after celebrities, some cheeky confessions, some heart-warming stories of struggle, and a whole lot of fun! The Anupam Kher Show is your go-to talk show for all the hidden chapters of your favourite celebrities & lives.,” read the description of the interview. Khan did not endorse an online game at any point in the interview.
At the 09:00 mark, we can see that Kher’s question had been digitally manipulated to appear like he was asking Khan about the app in the viral ad.
We ran the video past Deepware, a community-driven open-source Deepfake detection tool, which said it was “suspicious”.
Video 2
Newschecker noticed that the “Kapil Dev ad” was an interview with cricket presenter Gaurav Kapur on his show, “Breakfast with Champions”. We came across the interview on Youtube, uploaded on June 28, 2019, with the description reading, “This episode is all about the good old days of cricket, and who better to take us through it than the legend himself. In conversation with Gaurav Kapur, Kapil Dev talks about some of his dearest moments and people. He speaks candidly about some of his peers, the moments that changed his life, and a few laughs along the way. Don’t miss out on this one!”. Again, Dev did not endorse an online game at any point in the interview.
At the 11:38 mark, we can see that Kapur’s comment had been digitally manipulated to appear like he was asking Dev about the app in the viral ad.
We ran the video past Deepware, which said “deepfake detected”.
Video 3
Newschecker ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the ad, which led us to this Youtube video of comedian Vikram Sathaye’s exclusive interview with Tendulkar on his show, “What The Duck with Vikram Sathaye”, uploaded on May 28, 2017. Tendulkar did not endorse an online game at any point in the interview
At the 08:48 mark, we can see that Tendulkar’s remark had been digitally manipulated to appear like he was promoting the app.
We ran the video past Deepware, which said it was “suspicious”.
Newschecker also looked up the advertiser, Distribuidora FES, purportedly running these ads, where we found that it was a food service distributor page based out of Mexico. We did not find any trace of these ads, while also reaching out to the page for information concerning the viral ads. We will update this article once we receive a reply.
There has been a proliferation of such fake celebrity ads on social media, particularly promoting dubious quick get-rich schemes, which are created by cloning voices of famous personalities using AI tools and altering the mouth movements in real videos to match the new audio.
Conclusion
Deepfake ads impersonating Shah Rukh Khan, Kapil Dev and Shah Rukh, so as to promote an online game that promises easy money have gone viral.
Result: Altered Media
Sources
Youtube video, Colours TV, July 16, 2022
Youtube video, Oaktree Sports, June 28, 2019
Youtube video, What The Duck With Vikram Sathaye, May 28, 2017
Deepware tests
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form.
Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
