If you follow us on basically any of our social platforms, you'll know we love to reminisce about the North American House Hippo: a critter embedded into the minds of every Canadian millennial and Gen Z thanks to a PSA about media and critical thinking. As such, we must have manifested its return, as the semi-aquatic mammal is back to warn us about modern media woes.
A new ad launched by MediaSmarts acknowledges the original 1999 ad, which certainly led some underdeveloped brains into believing the House Hippo exists. "Today, even the beloved house hippo can be manipulated and changed through deepfakes made with AI," the narrator says. "It's harder than ever to tell what's real just by looking at it."
The viewer is then prompted to go to breakthefake.ca for tips on how to determine what information they see online is real or not. Watch the updated ad — while snacking on peanut butter toast crumbs, of course — below.