Fact Check: FAKE Ad Featuring Sydney Sweeney In Nike…
An AI-generated advertisement featuring Sydney Sweeney and Nike branding is circulating on social media but is not an official campaign
- Incident date
- Sep 2026
- Target
- Sydney Sweeney
In early September 2026, social media users began circulating AI-generated images depicting actress Sydney Sweeney in a fake Nike advertisement. These memes emerged following news that Nike would be removed from the S&P 100 index, leading to various fabricated promotional slogans and imagery involving the celebrity.
What happened
The viral content consisted of multiple AI-generated images shared on the platform X by accounts such as @wallstmemes, @dennishegstad, and @ProtestOnX. The posts featured slogans like "Buy the stock. Just do it." and "Great jeans look perfect in Nikes." One image was a digital alteration of a pre-existing American Eagle campaign, modified to include Nike footwear.
Investigation into the claims confirmed that the imagery was not part of any official partnership. Searches across Google News, Yahoo News, and Nike’s own press releases yielded no evidence of a campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney. Furthermore, technical analysis using the Hive Moderation AI detection tool confirmed the synthetic nature of the images, with detection scores ranging from 96.8% to 99.9% probability of being AI-generated. Several of the posts included "Made with AI" disclaimers, though they were widely shared as part of a meme cycle following the company's S&P 100 index rebalancing announcement.