An AI Version of J.Lo Invites Travelers to Set Sail on Virgin Voyages

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised concerns when it comes to using the technology to create celebrity deepfakes. But Jennifer Lopez is embracing its potential by giving Virgin Voyages permission to use her likeness for a “Jen AI” custom invite tool.

Created by VMLY&R, the tool hosted within virginvoyages.com allows consumers to invite friends and family to join them on one of the adults-only cruises. The messages from Lopez can be customized with the occasion, amenities they want to hype, destination and the names of the organizer and invitees.

“Life is busy and it’s difficult to get your crew together and make it all happen,” Ryan McManus, VMLY&R chief creative officer of North America, said in a statement. “With all the developments around [generative] AI, we decided to build something that can help invite the world to Voyage.”

Virgin Voyages introduced the new function in a minute-long ad showing Lopez talking up the cruise, only to have her voice replaced and her face become pixelated. The video then moves to an “AI lab” whose employees take turns in a motion capture suit to control what Lopez says and does.

“When we first announced our partnership with Jennifer back in 2021, what excited us about the collaboration was combining our creativity with a shared passion for connecting and entertaining our audiences,” Virgin Voyages chief brand officer Nathan Rosenberg said in a statement. “Through this wildly creative idea from VMLY&R, we are both using and poking fun at the world of AI.”

CREDITS

VMLY&R

Chief creative officer, NA: Jason Xenopoulos
Chief creative officer, NA: Ryan McManus
Group creative director:Gretchen Menter
Creative director: Perle Arteta
Executive producer: Christine Howley
Executive music producer: Theresa Notartomaso
Music production assistant: Karli James
Senior business affairs manager: Janet Muentes
Executive director, client engagement: Shali Wade
Executive director, client engagement: Becky Ginsberg
Group director, client engagement: Chelsea Dubin
Senior account manager: Camille Lavoie
Operations supervisor: Lauren Galanek
Director, client engagement: Dan Murphy
Program director, delivery: Mary Lou Ricci
Global chief strategy officer: Andrea Grodberg Ring
Group director, strategy and insights: Ricardo Munoz
Executive officer: Brian Yamada
Executive director, experience design: Brad Levine
Experience innovation: Fernando Martinez
Group director, experience design: Andy McLeod
Managing director, technology: Gabby Spurling
Director, experience design: Laura Robertson
Designer: Alex Makarainen
Technology specialist: Sean Dees
Associate director, technology: Rhia Dixon
Chief technology officer: David Mitchell
Writer: Joel Johnson
Senior designer: Carolyn Pokorney

Virgin Voyages

Managing director, Bain Capital: Matt Freeman
Chief brand officer: Nathan Rosenberg
Director, global brand and experience strategy: Billy Bohan Chinique
Creative director: Christian Schrader
Editorial director: Bailey Edwards
Head of social media: Elayane Merriwether
Director, global public relations: Michelle Estevam
Sr. manager – communications: Taylor Dixon
Head of production: Kathy Boos Tejada
Chief growth officer: Isis Ruiz
Director, integrated marketing: Virginia Rojo
Director – digital experience: Gabriel Mende
Head of paid media: Cindy Gil
Media specialist: Bella Clements

Deeplocal

Chief innovation officer: Patrick Miller
VP of creative technology: Blair Neal
VP of creative technology: Matt Franklin
Creative technology director: Sean Scanlan
Creative technology director: John Mars
Creative technologist: Swan Carpenter
Creative technologist: Ethan Nevidomsky
Director of production: Grace Reed
Production assistant: Carly Sacco

SpeakUnique

Chief technology officer: Oliver Watts
Chief executive officer: Alice Smith
Digital developer: Jeremy Jones

Flaunt Digital

Chief technology officer: Jamie Shields
Head of development: Sam Ward
Web developer: Aidan Maycock
Dev QA: Dan Stoakes
Dev QA: Matt Dove
Dev QA: Katie Pearson
Design QA: Hannah Thompson

Radical Media

Director: Dave Meyers
DP: Scott Cunningham
Producer: Colin Moran
SVP/head of commercials: Jim Bouvet

Wave

Sound engineer: Chris Afzal
Executive producer: Vicky Ferraro

Cabin

Editor: Chan Hatcher
Assistant editor: Katie Pehowski
Assistant editor: Nicole Lefteau
Senior producer: Mary Stasilli

Framestore 

Creative director, VFX: Vicky Osborn
Creative director, design: Brian Drucker
VFX lead: Kane Herd
Senior producer: Sue McNamara
Production support: Kate Richardson
Production support: Meghana Penumarthi
Production support: Susan Harris
Executive producer: Nick Faser
On-set VFX supervisor: James Rogers
On-set VFX supervisor: JR Hawkins
Compositing: Joseph Taylor
Compositing: Alex Ling
Compositing: Joseph Yoon
Compositing: Ariana Kolitsopoulos
Compositing: David Forcada
Compositing: Gil Milstein
Compositing: Em Hackley
Compositing: Jess Kim
Compositing: Keno Naidoo
Compositing: Tony Rivas
Compositing: Theuns Van Rensberg
Compositing: Zimei Song
Compositing: Yilin Lai
Compositing: Ryan Niko
Computer graphics: Jessica Soderstrom
Computer graphics: Sean Curran
Computer graphics: Leslie Clark
Computer graphics: Youran Liu
Computer graphics: Sean Dollins
Computer graphics: Jass Tsai
Computer graphics: Jeremy Livingston
Design: Crystal Sameul
Design: Kevin Sanchez
Design: Ryan DeCarlo

Company 3 

Colorist: Tim Masick
Assistant colorist: Stephen Winterhalter

VMLY&R Vault

Group director: Steve Stone 
Cinematographer: Jake Farmer 
Senior producer: Marni Dworkin 
Motion designer: Luke Rupp 
Senior editor: Jeff Stiles 
Editor: Cole Hannan 

Hearts & Sciences 

Executive director, strategy: Daniel Muirhead
Executive director, planning: Dale Travis
Senior director, integrated investment: Sebastian Pinzon 
Senior director, activation and performance: Caroline Mercurio 

The Medina Co

Executive: Benny Medina
Team Jennifer Lopez: Gilly Iyer
Executive, personal assistant: Chris Rondina

J. Lopez Entertainment

President, digital for Jennifer Lopez: Larry Del Santo

Full Picture

Project manager: Steven Fernandez
EVP, brand strategy: Liane Mullin Bratchter
Vice president of brand & strategy: Adeniz Villar