Fake Alphonso Davies Ad Pushes Unlicensed Casino to Albertans

^{An AI-generated ad using the likeness of Alphonso Davies's father is directing Alberta viewers to an unlicensed offshore gambling site, his agent says. (Image: The Canadian Press/Alamy)}

An Instagram ad using AI-generated images of Alphonso Davies's father is directing Alberta viewers to an unlicensed offshore casino, according to the Edmonton Journal.

The ad, posted by an advertiser called "Prime Spin Zone," opens with a fabricated video showing Davies's father arrested by Edmonton police over what the ad claims is $3 million in cash.

It then shows him released as police determine the money came from legal gambling proceeds, before an AI-generated image of Davies's father tells viewers to "play the same casino he did."

An AI image of Canadian musician Drake also appears in the ad, according to the outlet.

Clicking through leads to Oxibet, a gambling site based in Comoros that is not registered to operate in the regulated Alberta online casino market.

Davies's Agent Calls the Ad "Lies"

Davies's agent, Nedal Huoseh, disputed the ad's claims when contacted by the Edmonton Journal.

"They don't gamble," Huoseh said of the Davies family.

Huoseh said Davies "does not do anything with betting or gambling sites whatsoever," and said he wants to pursue the people responsible for the ad.

He added that the lack of regulation around AI-generated advertising is "a big problem we have to deal with."

Alberta's Rules Don't Cover Offshore Sites

Alberta's advertising standards bar celebrities and athletes from directly promoting casinos or sportsbooks, allowing them to appear only in ads that emphasize responsible gambling.

Those rules apply to Alberta's 31 registered iGaming operators, not to offshore sites like Oxibet that sit outside the province's regulatory reach.

Alberta's regulated market launched July 13, and its registered operators each pay 20% of revenue back to the province.

Oxibet does not appear on that registrant list, meaning none of its advertising, AI-generated or otherwise, is subject to the same rules.

A Preview of a Bigger Problem

Alberta's Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister, Dale Nally, has said the province built its regulated iGaming market partly to pull players away from unregulated sites.

Nally has said the province's old single-operator system, Play Alberta, captured only about 30% of the money Albertans spent on online gambling before the new market opened.

The Davies ad suggests offshore operators are now using AI-generated celebrity endorsements to compete for the players Alberta's regulated market was built to capture.