Diego Maradona AI media incident — Oct 2026

What happened

The AI-native production studio One of One, founded by Alex Shalson and Jack Hershman, utilized generative AI to create a comprehensive brand campaign for an official apparel label honoring the late Argentine footballer Diego Maradona. Released under an exclusive license from Electa Global, the project aimed to launch the brand in time for the World Cup without the logistical requirements of traditional international film production.

Rather than coordinating physical shoots in Buenos Aires and Naples, the studio used AI to generate all campaign assets, including the website, editorial content, press materials, product images, film, and social media content. The team employed a variety of AI models to execute the project, utilizing Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2, and Cinema Studio for creative development and e-commerce imagery, while relying on Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0 for film and animation.

To ensure the accuracy of the late athlete's representation, the studio established strict rules during the preliminary stage regarding how Maradona should look and move. These guidelines were applied to all subsequent assets to maintain consistency. The campaign reached 10 million people within three weeks of its launch, and the debut collection sold out. The studio emphasized that while AI allowed for the creation of content featuring a deceased public figure without requiring them to be on set, the process required clear permissions and a deliberate approach to managing the rights to an individual's likeness.