Is messy content the new route to authenticity?

When the Tourism Authority of Thailand clarified that its campaign featuring BLACKPINK’s Lisa was not AI-generated, the controversy was not about technology use - it was about trust. Given the polished look of the campaign, consumers were triggered to believe it was AI-generated, highlighting how visual perfection itself has become a point of scrutiny.

That reaction reflects a broader shift in audience behaviour as generative tools make high-gloss imagery easier to produce. According to Meltwater and We Are Social’s "Digital 2026: Singapore" report, 71.1% of Singaporeans are concerned about misinformation online, while AI-driven discovery tools are increasingly shaping what people see and engage with. High digital literacy has raised expectations around transparency, with audiences paying closer attention to how content is created, not just how it looks.

Against this backdrop, content creators are experimenting with lo-fi visuals, rough edges, and deliberately imperfect executions as signals of authenticity and human judgment. But as “messy” aesthetics gain currency, the line between genuine imperfection and calculated chaos is becoming harder to define.

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Industry players MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to say that the backlash against hyper-polished visuals is not surprising. Kimberley Olsen, co-founder of Yatta Workshop, said anything that looks too perfect now risks being labelled AI-generated within minutes.

“Brands can either panic and play defense, or own the narrative before the Internet does,” she said, pointing to campaigns that have chosen transparency over denial. If AI is used, brands should acknowledge it. If it is not, they need to be prepared to show evidence of human craft, whether through behind-the-scenes footage, working files, or process documentation. She added:

The 'trust us bro' approach isn't going it cut it anymore.

Content creator, founder and CEO of Kobe Evangeline Leong agreed that polish no longer signals quality and can in fact trigger distrust. “When everything can look perfect, perfection stops being evidence of effort,” she said, adding that brands need to move away from optimising purely for output and focus instead on signalling intent.

As such the focus should be on why the piece of content was created, the ownership of the creator and what trade-offs were consciously chosen matters.

"The most valuable creative work won’t be the most beautiful — it will be the most considered. Human touch will show up in taste, ethics, restraint, and perspective. In the long run, authenticity won’t be about being raw or messy; it will be about being deliberate in a world where anything is possible," said Leong.

The myth of 'messy = authentic'

As trust in perfection erodes, does this mean we are entering an era of messiness?

Leong states that what consumers are responding to isn’t chaos; it’s relief from over-engineered content that feels emotionally empty. Imperfection works when it reveals humanity or lived experience, not when it becomes a shortcut. She added:

The risk is when “messy” turns into a formula — then it’s simply polish wearing a different costume.

Cheryl Teng, strategy director at VaynerMedia APAC, noted that the problem isn’t polish itself, it’s when content feels designed to tick boxes rather than start a conversation. “Audiences are looking for those tiny, intuitive choices, a specific framing or a raw reaction, that prove a human was actually directing the soul of the message,” she said.

Interestingly, Teng added that the market has hit “peak messy”, as consumers can see when imperfection is just another corporate filter. To build trust, brands need to reveal that they understand the lived tensions of their audience, noting:

AI can replicate a ‘look’, but it can’t replicate empathy.

To build trust, brands and content creators have to dig deeper than aesthetics and look at cohort nuances - not just be messy for the sake of it. 

"Consumers want to see a brand that understands the specific, un-glamorous tensions of their life, whether that’s a first-time mom reclaiming her identity or a gig-worker juggling three apps and a 2% battery while being managed by an invisible boss," Teng said.

Olsen added that audiences are highly adept at distinguishing intentional imperfection from lack of effort. “Intentional imperfection is a choice. Sloppiness is just a lack of care,” she said, adding that platform context matters.  While TikTok rewards raw, unfiltered energy, other platforms still demand a degree of aesthetic consideration. Applying the same creative logic everywhere, she warned, often backfires.

Where does messy slip into sloppy?

Shermaine Wong, founder and CEO of CULT CREATIVE explained that consumers today are smart enough to know the difference where intentional imperfection shows that a choice was made in service of truth, while sloppiness signals a lack of care.

Wong also gave points as to how one can actively identify messy from sloppy, "Here's how it reveals itself: when one element is deliberately raw within work that's otherwise clearly crafted, we read it as authentic. When everything is rough, we read it as lazy. Competence has to be visible somewhere for the imperfection to register as choice rather than inability."

At the end of the day, Wong outlined that authenticity isn't in the aesthetic—it's in the alignment, and "messy" content damages credibility when:

• It signals apathy rather than authenticity
• It contradicts your core brand promise
• It's so obviously manufactured messiness that it's just another lie
• It sacrifices clarity for aesthetic

At the end of the day, it would serve marketers well to remember that technology always has and will disrupt the way we live and work - more now than ever. As such, said Ryan Marquez, general manager of Gushcloud Philippines.

“Authentic storytelling should always be the focal point of every piece of creative content from brands. Whether it’s polished or not, real people and the stories can touch audiences in a real way. Working with personalities and content creators is what we think bridges the gap between brands and audiences through the authentic or relatable content that is created," he said.

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