How SKF Made Its AI Greta Garbo Ad—and Why It’s Controversial

SKF’s AI-generated Greta Garbo ad pairs an unexpected celebrity revival with a pitch for magnetic bearings. Launched on September 30, 2026, the campaign connects the product to Garbo’s earlier appearance in a film promoting Swedish industries, including SKF. It also revives a payment model the company says it pioneered in 1919. The production was developed with Garbo’s estate and family, but its reception has ranged from praise to ridicule—and raised questions about using AI to create new commercial performances by people who have died. 1211

How SKF created the AI likeness

SKF said the digital Garbo was not made from archival photographs or film footage, citing copyright concerns. Instead, the production used text prompts and a human actor performing as a model for the AI-generated character. 312

AI tools were used to generate the likeness and its movement. Reporting says the production used tools from ByteDance, Google and Kuaishou. Garbo’s voice was recreated using audio from one of her early films, with permission. 3

The project was developed in collaboration with Garbo’s estate and family. That authorization is a significant part of how SKF presented the campaign, but it does not change the fact that the new ad gives Garbo words and actions she did not perform herself. 1011

What the ad promotes—and what “pay like it’s 1919” means

The commercial promotes SKF’s magnetic bearings, which use magnetic levitation to reduce mechanical contact. SKF says the technology has the potential to eliminate friction at the bearing; that claim should not be confused with a promise that an entire machine uses no energy. 211

The campaign also brings back a payment approach SKF says it pioneered in 1919. Under the offer, customers pay for the bearing solution from the energy savings it generates over time. The historical reference is more than a tagline: it links an older way of addressing the cost of adopting technology to the company’s current pitch for energy-efficient equipment. 11

Why the campaign drew praise and ridicule

The ad puts a globally recognizable film star in an unlikely role: selling industrial bearings. Reuters reported a mix of debate, praise and ridicule, while the New York Times noted that not all viewers found the digital likeness convincing. 12

For supporters, the campaign is a striking way to bring attention to an industrial product and to reconnect Garbo with SKF’s history. For critics, the pairing can feel absurd, and the replica may not persuade everyone. 12

The larger question: who can authorize a posthumous performance?

The campaign illustrates what some commentators describe as a “synthetic resurrection”: AI is used to make a deceased performer appear to speak and act in a new work. Collaboration with an estate and family distinguishes this project from an unauthorized use, but it cannot establish what Garbo herself would have wanted. 910

That leaves questions beyond whether the likeness looks convincing. How should audiences be told that a performance is AI-generated? What limits should apply when a deceased person’s likeness is used to sell a product? The Garbo campaign does not settle those questions, but it makes them difficult to ignore.