The Synthetic Sell: Clearing AI-Generated Advertising — Deepfakes, Digital Talent, Fake Reviews, and the New Disclosure Laws

Nerissa Coyle McGinn, Partner | Loeb & Loeb LLP

Nerissa Coyle McGinn is a Partner in the Chicago office of Loeb & Loeb LLP, where her practice sits squarely at the convergence of advertising and promotions, artificial intelligence, emerging media, technology, privacy, and intellectual property law. She counsels clients ranging from some of the world’s most recognizable brands to early-stage startups on the legal risks of AI-generated content, the development of internal AI policies, digital and influencer advertising, trademark clearance, loyalty and subscription programs, and compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). With more than a decade of recognition as one of Illinois’s leading advertising, media, and intellectual property lawyers, she is regularly called on to help marketers clear campaigns that push the boundaries of what technology can do — including the synthetic, AI-generated, and deepfake-adjacent content at the center of this program.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. McGinn earned her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School and her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She is admitted to practice in Illinois, before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar) and the Central District of Illinois.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. McGinn has been named an “Illinois Super Lawyer” in Intellectual Property and Media and Advertising Law (2014–2024, 2026), a “Best Lawyer” in Advertising Law by The Best Lawyers in America (2027), and an “IP Star” by Managing Intellectual Property magazine every year since 2013, including its “Top 250 Women in IP.” She has been repeatedly recommended by The Legal 500 US in Advertising and Marketing, Technology: Data Protection and Privacy, and Cyber Law, was named among Diversity MBA Magazine’s “Top 100 Under 50 Diverse Executive Leaders,” and appeared for years on the “Top Lawyers in Illinois” lists across multiple categories.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. McGinn serves as Co-Chair of the Tomorrow’s Leader Award Sub-Committee of the International Trademark Association and is a member of the Promotions Marketing Association, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Asian-American Bar Association. She previously taught as an Adjunct Professor of Intellectual Property Legal Writing and U.S. Advertising Law at John Marshall Law School and as an Instructor in Undergraduate Trial Advocacy at the University of Illinois. A frequent speaker on AI, advertising, and privacy, her recent engagements include Loeb & Loeb’s 2026 AI Summit in Chicago, the Privacy + Security Forum Fall Academy 2026, and the Sports Lawyers Association Annual Conference, where she presented “Data Privacy in Sports: Navigating Data, AI, Innovation and Regulation.”

• Experience

Ms. McGinn’s representative work spans the full lifecycle of a modern marketing campaign — from clearing creative and negotiating talent, sponsorship, and content-integration deals to defending advertising and consumer class actions. She has represented TikTok in its sponsorship agreement with Soccer United Marketing; Vans in brand partnerships, content integrations, and its Warped Tour collaboration with Insomniac Productions; H&R Block in intellectual property and advertising matters; the sports and entertainment agency Silver Chalice; and Turner Broadcasting entities including Cartoon Network, CNN, truTV, TBS, and Turner Sports in trademark clearance for shows, web properties, and sweepstakes. That combination of AI policy counseling, advertising clearance, privacy, and litigation experience makes her uniquely positioned to walk practitioners through deepfakes, digital talent, fake reviews, and the new wave of AI disclosure laws.

Lisa Wiznitzer, Associate | Loeb & Loeb LLP

Lisa Wiznitzer is an attorney in the Chicago office of Loeb & Loeb LLP, where she serves as a trusted counselor, dealmaker, and strategic advisor to clients navigating complex transactions and strategic initiatives at the intersection of advertising, sports, entertainment, media, and technology. She advises brands, agencies, professional teams, leagues, and talent on advertising and marketing services agreements, sponsorships and endorsements, licensing, brand protection, content development and distribution, and mergers and acquisitions. A significant and growing focus of her practice is artificial intelligence: she regularly drafts and negotiates AI-related provisions in advertising, media, sports, and entertainment agreements and helps clients manage the legal risks of adopting AI-generated content and synthetic talent in their campaigns.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Wiznitzer earned her J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where she served as Managing Editor of the Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property; her M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management; and her B.A. from Northwestern University. She is admitted to practice in Illinois.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Wiznitzer has been named to Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Corporate Law (2024–2026) and Entertainment & Sports Law (2025–2026), recognized as an “Illinois Rising Star” in Entertainment & Sports by Thomson Reuters (2025–2026), and named a “Leading Associate” (2026) and “Rising Star” (2024–2025) in Sports by The Legal 500 US. She was also selected for Conduct Detrimental’s “10 Under 10” list of standout young sports lawyers (2023) and for “Double Chai in the Chi: 36 Under 36” by Jewish Chicago: The JUF Magazine (2022).

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Wiznitzer is a member of the Jewish Federations of North America’s National Young Leadership Cabinet. She is an experienced presenter on transactional and emerging-technology issues in the advertising, sports, and entertainment industries, having spoken at the 50th Annual Sports Lawyers Association Conference, Loeb & Loeb’s IP/Entertainment Law Conference in Los Angeles, and the webinar “Key Issues in Buying and Selling Creative, Entertainment and Technology Businesses.”

• Experience

Ms. Wiznitzer’s representative matters include representing Dolly Parton and her coffee company, Dolly’s Cup of Ambition, in a product development and distribution agreement with Community Coffee; representing a major consumer products manufacturer in negotiating a FIFA sponsorship agreement; representing Lenovo in its jersey-patch sponsorship with the Chicago Cubs; representing Publicis Groupe in its acquisition of Bespoke Sports & Entertainment; advising a professional sports franchise on the planning, land acquisition, and strategic partnerships for a proposed 100-acre multi-use sports, hospitality, and training campus in California; and negotiating a multi-year venue partnership between a sports franchise and a major entertainment organization to host nationally broadcast awards ceremonies. Her hands-on experience negotiating talent, endorsement, and AI-related contract terms gives her a practical, deal-level perspective on the digital talent, likeness rights, and disclosure obligations that this program addresses.

SESSION 1 – When the Ad Isn’t Real: Deepfakes, Synthetic Performers, AI Claims, and Fake Reviews | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Generative AI is in every creative brief — and regulators have caught up. New York now requires conspicuous disclosure when an ad features an AI-generated “synthetic performer,” state digital-replica statutes are redefining right of publicity, the FTC’s Operation AI Comply is punishing overstated AI claims, and the Consumer Review Rule has turned AI-generated testimonials into civil-penalty exposure. This hour maps the liability landscape: what must be disclosed, whose face and voice can be used, what can be claimed, and where the class actions are coming from.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Clearing the Campaign: Contracts, Talent, Virtual Influencers, and the AI Review Workflow | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

The second hour is the transactional playbook, drawn from the speaker’s practice negotiating advertising, sponsorship, and platform deals for major consumer brands: the contracts that allocate AI risk, talent deals that now must address digital replicas and voice cloning, virtual influencers under the FTC Endorsement Guides, and the piece every legal department is being asked to build — an AI-use policy and pre-launch clearance workflow that lets marketing move fast without creating exhibits for a regulator.