People are attracted to health tips with huge promises and miracle cures. Social media is full of them – anti-vaccine rhetoric, garlic cloves in the nose, ingestion of methylene blue, strange diets… Often, they relayed by influencers without any medical qualifications and millions of internet users are receiving them, including younger people who are even more vulnerable to false information. TikTok is one of the most prevalent source of medical nonsense according to a recent study by the company Tebra. 45% of the medical advice on the platform is false or misleading. BETC Paris and the union of young general practitioners, ReAGJIR, has launched an awareness campaign that uses AI to warn of the danger of medical fake news on social networks.

@healthbuster5, the campaign’s TikTok and Instagram accounts, use deepfake technology to videos of influencers who have relayed unfounded medical practices, so that they can finally present the sometimes disastrous consequences of these so-called remedies. The public awareness campaign aldo confronts the authors of fake information by confronting them with the reality of their own recommendations.

In these videos, the influencer who advocated the use of garlic cloves to treat flu now explains that she had been the victim of a nasal infection, while the TikTok user who recommended the ingestion of methylene blue explains the resulting anaemia.

At the end of each of these surprising videos, ReAGJIR lifts the veil: they were actually real doctors, who had taken on the appearance of these misinformed influencers in order to raise awareness of the danger of fake medical news and to remind people that when it comes to health, it is imperative to trust only a professional.

The #HEALTHBUSTER operation embodies ReAGJIR’s commitment to combating medical misinformation as a whole, particularly among GenZ on social networks, and invites TikTok and Instagram users to consult the @healthbuster5 account if they have any doubts about new advice that is currently in vogue.

Credits:
Client: Reagjir
President: Dr Raphael Dachicourt
Managing Director: Dr Olivier Cadiou
Vice President: Dr Kilian Thomas
Doctors: Dr Caroline Monteragioni, Dr Marie Bonneau & Dr Agathe Lechevallier

Ad Agency: BETC Paris
Chief Creative Officer: Stephane Xiberras
Creative Directors: Arnaud Assouline, Benjamin Le Breton, Matthieu Bouilhot
Art Director: Damien Binello
Motion Designer: Damien Binello
PR Managers: Camille Chang, Michael Boamah, Julie Claeyman
Sound Company: Gum