The rules that end careers

This is the lesson every other AI ads course skips, and it is the one that keeps your ad account, your client and your name. The rules are not complicated. They are new, they are enforced, and they are easy to break by accident when a tool makes it effortless to produce a smiling person who says "this changed my skin". Read this once, keep the checklist, run the prompt on every script.

Seven rules

1. 01 / No fake testimonials

   Since October 2024 the US Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule bans testimonials from people who do not exist or did not use the product, and the FTC says AI-generated ones are covered. An AI avatar may present, explain and demonstrate. It may never say "I bought this" or "it worked for me". A presenter, never a customer.

2. 02 / Disclose the synthetic presenter

   New York’s synthetic performer law, in force since June 2026, requires a conspicuous disclosure in any ad using an AI performer, with fines per violation. The EU AI Act’s transparency article, applying from August 2026, requires AI content that looks real to be disclosed at first exposure. Practical rule: if an AI human appears, "AI presenter" is on screen and in the caption, everywhere, always.

3. 03 / Flip the platform toggle

   Meta labels ads it detects as AI-made and expects you to self-declare photorealistic AI; TikTok stamps every Symphony export and puts the disclosure duty on you. Switch the AI-generated toggle on when you upload. It costs nothing and the alternative is a paused account.

4. 04 / No real likeness, no implied celebrity

   Never clone a real face or voice without written consent. Never a lookalike. Never an avatar that "kind of looks like" anyone famous. The photo course’s celebrity prompts are for fictional scenes, not ads; an ad with a public figure is an endorsement they never gave.

5. 05 / Prove every claim

   "Lasts nine hours" needs the wear test. "Dermatologist tested" needs the dermatologist. "Clears acne in seven days" needs a study you can produce. Before/after images are the riskiest format: same person, same light, no retouching, originals kept.

6. 06 / Licence the sound

   Free-tier AI voices carry no commercial licence. AI music is in the middle of label lawsuits; use a paid stock library (Epidemic, Artlist) or a paid AI-music plan on a licensed model, and keep the licence in the project folder.

7. 07 / The landing page keeps the promise

   Same product, same price, same claim as the ad. A mismatch is the fastest way to a rejected ad and a wasted test.

The disclosure lines

On screen, bottom third, for the whole time the avatar is visible, in a legible size: AI presenter. In the caption, first line or last line: The presenter in this ad is an AI avatar. In the ad’s primary text if the platform has one: the same sentence. Do not hide it in white-on-white or a two-frame flash; that is the thing the laws were written for.

Check this ad script and plan against the rules below. Answer line by line with PASS, FIX or STOP, and the exact change for every FIX.
Rules:
1. No testimonial from someone who did not use the product. An AI avatar or an actor may present, explain and demonstrate, but may not say "I bought this", "I used this", "it worked for me" or anything that sounds like a customer experience. (FTC Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule.)
2. Every claim about results, speed, ingredients, safety or savings has a proof I hold. "Clears acne in 7 days" needs a test; "smells like amber and smoke" does not.
3. No real person's face or voice, no lookalike of a public figure, no implied celebrity.
4. If a synthetic (AI) presenter appears, the ad carries a visible disclosure ("AI presenter" on screen and in the caption) because New York requires it for any ad shown there and the EU requires it for AI content that looks real.
5. The Meta or TikTok "AI-generated" toggle is switched on when uploading, whether or not the platform detects it.
6. Music is licensed for ads: a paid stock library or a paid AI-music plan on a licensed model. No free-tier voices or music.
7. Before/after images are of the same object or person, unedited beyond crop, and I can produce the originals.
8. Nothing implies scarcity or urgency that is not true ("only 12 left", "ends tonight").
9. The landing page says the same thing the ad says: same product, same price, same claim.
10. For the platform I am using, the product is allowed to be advertised at all (supplements, cosmetics, finance and health have extra rules).

SCRIPT AND PLAN:
[paste]

The checklist, for the folder

• Presenter is a presenter; no first-person experience lines.
• Every claim has a proof file next to the script.
• No real face, voice or lookalike.
• "AI presenter" on screen and in the caption if any synthetic human appears.
• Platform AI toggle on.
• Voice and music licences in the folder.
• Landing page matches the ad.
• Product is allowed on the platform; category rules read (cosmetics, supplements, health, finance).