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Streaming service Hulu recently flighted an advert claiming that Gaza would be an exotic tourist destination if not for Hamas.

The AI-generated images of beautiful beaches, luxury hotels and laughing children, have prompted a huge backlash, including protests outside Hulu’s headquarters.

The bizarre 30-second video features text reading, “Come visit beautiful Gaza” while a narrator promises “stunning beaches and charming boardwalks.”

“You can stay in one of our five-star hotels and get a taste of the best in Middle Eastern food. Embrace the vibrant nightlife of the city and experience a culture rich in tradition.”

The adverts take a political turn as the narration ends mid-sentence and says: “This is what Gaza could have been like without Hamas.”

It then shows images of Palestinians, including children, holding guns and standing inside tunnels. The weird video ends by saying, “Free Gaza From Hamas Now.”

“State of Israel” appears at the end.

VICE reported that neither Hulu, which is a Disney company, nor the Israeli government’s press office commented on the ad, but the Wallstreet Journal said the video “was pulled from YouTube as a paid ad but remains up as unpaid content on Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate’s YouTube page”.

The video leaves a menacing taste in your mouth, yet strangely, Disney allowed one of their seven dwarfs to broadcast something that is blatantly political propaganda on acid.

In December, Hulu viewers reported seeing a Christmas-themed ad about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. The ad shows Santa reading a letter from an Israeli child who says, “On October 7, some bad people came into our house. They hurt my mommy and took my daddy away.” The child then wishes Santa could bring his dad back home. The ad was paid for by the State of Israel.

Alessandro Accorsi from the International Crisis Group said the “Hulu tourism-like ad” is merely Israel trying to manage “very bad public relations.” No s***.

“They’re trying to target US audiences with the kind of the message of, ‘Hey, it’s not our fault, first of all, it’s Hamas’ fault. We need to continue this for the sake of the Palestinians,” he said, adding the use of AI images offers an “alternative reality.”

“It’s a very positive media that at the same time also achieves the goal of polishing up the image of Israel and keeping away all these bad images that are coming out from the battleground.”

Accorsi said that earlier in the war, there were hundreds of ads on YouTube and Google, but most of them were removed because they violated European regulations on political marketing on social media. Israel has also used Google adverts to defend itself against claims of genocide before the International Court of Justice.

Whether we like it or not, we live in an era where history is told by whoever has the best Generative AI.

[source:vice]