2026: The Year of "100% Human" Marketing
Slop is everywhere. The feeds, the decks, the headlines. It's the term chosen as word of the year because people can feel it - that glossy, uncanny sheen that makes you hesitate before you trust.
Here's the bet: 2026 rewards brands that lead with human-made work. Not nostalgia. Strategy. Trust becomes a growth lever because audiences are tired of being duped.
Why the pushback is building
AI "slop" isn't just weird hands and melted backgrounds anymore. The obvious tells are fading, and the feeling of "I got fooled again" is spreading. A casual scroll now feels like a Turing test you didn't sign up for.
Signals are everywhere. iHeartMedia rolled out a "guaranteed human" promise. A Canadian newsroom publicly adopted a no-AI policy. A hit TV series told viewers, in the credits, "This show was made by humans." Meanwhile, an AI "actress" drew real backlash, Pinterest alienated core users with AI-heavy feeds, and New Yorkers vandalized ads for an always-listening wearable labeled "Friend." One artist even built "Slop Evader," a filter to search only the pre-ChatGPT web.
And yes, the tech can be fun or useful. But it also supercharges misinformation and deepfakes - remember the Grok misfire during the Bondi Beach incident? The gap between promise and lived experience is where skepticism grows.
What this means for marketing, PR, and comms
Attention is easy. Trust is rare. The market is shifting from "Can we produce more?" to "Can we prove it's real?"
That changes briefs, media plans, and brand safety. It also changes how teams staff, disclose, and measure. Authenticity isn't a slogan - it's an operating system.
The 100% Human Playbook
- Define "human" for your brand. Write a clear AI-use policy. What's allowed internally (drafts, summaries, transcripts)? What's banned in public-facing creative? Require disclosure when generative tools touch anything consumer-facing.
- Label it. Add "Made by Humans" stamps to campaigns, show names, bios, and show notes. Make the standard visible - not performative.
- Prove authenticity. Adopt content provenance (C2PA) and watermarking so assets carry verifiable origin data. See the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity: c2pa.org.
- Rebuild the content pipeline. Interviews, original quotes, reporting, on-site footage, behind-the-scenes. AI can assist with cleanup, but humans own ideas, voice, and final edit.
- Creator and UGC contracts. Add clauses banning undisclosed AI. Pay a premium for verifiable human craft. Require raw files and provenance data.
- Lean into formats that feel alive. Live streams, office hours, AMAs, town halls, community calls. The "you had to be there" vibe beats slick, synthetic polish.
- Update media buying. Exclude "AI inventory" where possible. A/B test human vs. mixed creative. Cap frequency to avoid uncanny fatigue.
- Deepfake defense plan. Stand up a verification hub (known-good handles, faces, voices), pre-approved spokesperson footage, rapid legal takedown workflow, and 24/7 social listening.
- New KPIs for trust. Track complaint rate, time on content, repeat visitors, brand search lift, sentiment shift, creator retention, and earned mentions. Don't just chase click-through.
- Train the team. Teach legal, PR, brand, and social how to spot synthetics, disclose AI use, and respond fast. If you need structured upskilling, see our marketing-focused AI training: Certification for Marketing Specialists.
Where AI still fits (without breaking trust)
Use it behind the curtain: research synthesis, transcription, atomizing long-form into clips, QA checks, accessibility (alt text, captions), and internal dashboards. Keep humans on story, taste, and truth.
Bake in guardrails: no PII, factual checks before publish, and explicit labels when AI contributes. If the output could mislead, it doesn't ship.
The upside of going human-first
Consumers want convenience, sure. But they're searching for meaning. The brands that commit to human-made work - and can prove it - will earn attention that compounds.
2026 won't be anti-tech. It'll be pro-trust. Make it obvious your signal isn't slop. Then measure the lift where it counts.
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