Lil Miquela, the virtual influencer that made CGI famous
- BRACAI
- Oct 2, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 10
Lil Miquela is a virtual influencer.
She is not a real person. She is a handcrafted CGI character (often called an “AI influencer”).
Lil Miquela matters because she proved a simple point: you do not need a human body to build a real audience. You need a consistent character, good taste, and distribution.
She also proved the business model. Brands can “hire” a person-like asset with full control. No scandals. No bad days. No contract drama. That is why CGI influencers became a category.
And she showed the risk, too. When a virtual character plays with identity, politics, or “real” human pain, the backlash can be fast and public.
Quick facts: Lil Miquela
Is Lil Miquela real? No. She is a CGI character
Creator: Brud (founded by Trevor McFedries and Sara DeCou)
First appeared: 2016
Niche: fashion, music, culture
Positioning: “robot” lifestyle influencer with story arcs
Brand safety: medium (history of controversy)
Background of Lil Miquela
Lil Miquela was built by Brud, a Los Angeles startup-studio that treated “an influencer” like a tech product.
That framing is the whole trick. A human influencer is rented attention. A virtual influencer is owned IP. It can last forever, scale across markets, and stay on-message.
That also explains why this space attracted serious capital and why the story later moved into “community + collectibles” ideas after Brud was acquired by Dapper Labs (the team behind Flow / NBA Top Shot).
Case study: BMW “Make it Real” with Lil Miquela
BMW used Lil Miquela to launch the all-electric iX2 with a global digital campaign called “Make it Real”.
The creative move was the twist: a virtual character “breaks into” the real world, then falls in love with real human life. BMW tied that to its brand idea (“Freude Forever”).
Why it worked:
It used the virtual-native audience as a bridge. You borrow Miquela’s internet reach, then point it back to real-world driving
It made “digital vs real” the message. The character is the proof. You do not need to explain the concept
It stayed emotional, not gimmicky. The campaign is basically: “tech is cool, but real life is still the point
Case study: Calvin Klein (where it broke)
In 2019, Calvin Klein ran an ad where Bella Hadid kissed Lil Miquela. It triggered criticism for “queerbaiting”, and Calvin Klein issued an apology.
Why this matters:
Virtual characters can amplify a message fast
They can also make representation feel manufactured, because people know the “person” is not real and is fully controlled
So yes, you get control. But you do not get to control how culture reads the move.
What you can learn from Lil Miquela
Start with a character system, not a render. voice, values, plot, and posting rhythm matter more than pixel quality
Use virtual talent when the story benefits from “impossible”. BMW worked because “virtual meets real” was the whole point
Assume identity themes are high-risk. if the message touches gender, race, or sexuality, the backlash bar is lower
Build for ownership. the real unlock is owning the IP and the distribution, not renting a face for one campaign
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