IFPG Retreat · Sept 30, 2026
Is Your Video Legal?
The cost of fake storytelling in an AI world
Win a FREE Franchise Development Story Video + get the storytelling tips we use on 2,000+ franchise videos a year.
Trevor Rappleye, CEO & Storyteller, FranchiseFilming
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
Up to$53,088.
The maximum FTC fine for each fake testimonial.
FTC civil penalty adjustment, 2025 (per violation, unchanged for 2026).
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
Guess firstOut of 100 people, how many trust a brand MORE after seeing AI marketing?
7%
Only 7% say seeing AI-generated marketing makes them trust a brand more.
31%
31% say it makes them trust a brand less.
Klaviyo consumer research (8,000 consumers, 8 countries), via eMarketer, Dec 2025
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
The pipeline we all share
We're all chasing the same two franchisees.
2
out of every 100 leads become signed franchisees.
$17,550
average cost per sale.
The most trusted stories win the cycle.
2026 Annual Franchise Development Report
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
Watch these
How do these make you feel about the brand?
Don't judge the production. Which brand would you trust with a life-changing decision?
AI-generatedA "customer" testimonial
AI-generatedA franchise brand video
RealA real franchisee story
Hands upAI videos, or the real story?
Two in three people want humans, not AI, making the content they see.
Ipsos Consumer Tracker, Aug 2025
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
Is your video legal?
Where AI video creates risk.
1 · Fake testimonials
A paid actor, a friend or an AI avatar posing as a franchisee.
2 · Ownership
Purely AI-generated content may not be protected by copyright. You may not own your own ad.
3 · Earnings claims
Financial performance claims belong in Item 19, reviewed by counsel.
Scene: first franchise videoTake: 12019
A franchisee said on camera: "You could make millions just like me."
The CEO: "Dude, we need to talk."
The CEO: "Dude, we need to talk."
Nobody in franchising has been sued over AI video. Yet. McDonald's already pulled its AI Christmas ad after backlash.
FTC Fake Reviews Rule; Thaler v. Perlmutter, 2025; NBC News, Dec 2025. Not legal advice.
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
What changed
The internet got flooded
Word of the Year 2025
slopnoun
Digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.
Merriam-Webster
55,000,000AI videos a month, from one Google tool
1 in 3 people stop engaging with a brand when they find out content is AI.Slop or story?
Merriam-Webster, Dec 2025; Google, Oct 2025; Adobe Digital Trends, 2026
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
Hands up
✋Raise your hand if your brand used AI in marketing this year.Most hands up
✋Keep it up if it showed up in your fran-dev funnel.A few drop
✋Keep it up if you told the candidate.Almost all drop
That's what we're talking about today.
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
The disclosure trap
Hide it and it feels like a lie.Label it and they trust it less.
← Hide it
91%expect brands to disclose AI use.
If it looks real, label it.
✕Lose trust
Label it →
Same content, rated worse
Labeled "AI," people rate it less natural and less useful.
✕Lose trust
↑ The only road
Film it real.
Never fake the part that has to be true: the lives you're changing.
From homeless to franchisee
Beat cancer. Found a family.
Klaviyo via eMarketer, 2025; Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM)
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
The power of storytelling
Stories are how people decide.
63% vs 5%
of listeners remembered the stories from a pitch. Only 5% remembered a single statistic.
Chip Heath, Stanford, Made to Stick
Oxytocin
The brain's trust and empathy chemical. Character-driven stories trigger it. Facts alone don't.
Paul Zak, Claremont Graduate University
Out of 100 leads, 5 remember your webinar slides. 63 remember the franchisee whose life got better.
So is your brand telling stories of emotion?
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
Real stories at every stage
The S.T.O.R.Y. Funnel
SSparkYour brand story
TTrustReal franchisee voices
OOpportunityA day in the life
RReassureMeet the support team
YYesDiscovery Day
✓Is your video legal?Real voices at every stage. Counsel reviews any earnings talk outside Item 19.
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
Every story needs E³.
Snap itTake a picture of this one.
Emotion
So they feel it.
Evidence
So they believe it.
Empathy
So they say, "That's me."
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
The CDO playbook
Three moves before Q1
1
Draw your line between AI assistance and fabrication.
AI fakes
Real storytelling
Trust →
2
Capture 10 to 15 real stories across your sales cycle.
3
Have counsel review every testimonial and earnings claim.
Use AI to speed up the work. Never use it to fake the human proof.
trevor@franchisefilming.com·Text VIDEO to 88500
AI made fake content nearly free. That makes real human proof worth more than ever.
Slop or story?
Every story we film is a real person. No AI actors. No AI testimonials. Ever.
✓Write your AI rule this week.
✓Film one real franchisee this month.
Attention
Trust
Memory
Storytelling
Film it real.
Win a FREE story video·Get our storytelling tips·Book 15 minutes
Find us in the corner for the next 10 minutes.
Trevor RappleyeCEO & Storyteller, FranchiseFilming
Not legal advice. Take these questions to your franchise counsel.
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