Celebrity as an infrastructure?
On a Sunday in early February 2026, I was reading the newspaper while enjoying my morning coffee. I came across an article reporting that Khaby Lame, the TikTok creator with the highest global reach, had sold the commercial rights to his identity—including his face, his voice, and his behavioral biometric data—to Rich Sparkling Holding for 975 million dollars. This prompted me to reflect on the potential implications for marketing. What I identified is the prospect of a fundamental transformation in the practice of celebrity endorsement.
Khaby Lame – the real deal
To classify this case within marketing science, it is essential to understand the financial and legal structure of the transaction. This is not a standard sponsorship contract. The agreement between Khaby Lame’s operating unit and Rich Sparkle Holding is a share deal. With his 75 million shares he ist he controlling shareholder oft he Nasdaq-listed company. This is a fundamental change for an influencer: Lame is no longer paid for reach; he is the owner of the entity that monetizes his identity. The asset oft he deal is Lame’s ‘Digital Twin’ and the exclusive rights for 36 months. This asset serves as the raw material for creating an AI-Avatar conducting sales conversations, hosting livestreams and promoting 24/7 products in multilple languages. [1][2]
The real key to understand this deal ist he strategic partnership with the Three Sheep Group, founded by the influencer ‘Crazy Little Yang Brother’. [3]Compared to the classical endorsement, where exclusivity is creation the value, ubiquity is here the value driver. This model already creates already billions of revenue in China – and is now with that deal being globalized. Lame’s silent comedy being the ideal vector. [4][5]
Khaby Lame & the Meaning Tranfer Modell by McCraken (1989)
McCracken argues that celebrities are not just famous faces but complex bundels of cultural meanings. The endorsement process is a transfer in three stages:[6]
Stage 1: Culture to Celebrity
Lame has accumulated through his videos the cultural meaning of common sense, avoiding unnecessary complexity and pragmatic simplicity. His signature gesture became a symbol for ‘look it is this easy’.
Stage 2: Celebrity to Product
When Lame or now his Avatar presents a product, he transfers ‘simplicity’ tot he item. The object is charged with the promise of de-cluttering the consumer’s life.
Stage 3: Product to Consumer
The consumer buys the product not only for its function but for its cultural meaning associated with it.[7]
Khaby Lame – the Operational Model
Traditional influencer marketing is linear. This model is exponential for the following reasons[8]:
Licensing over Produktion: Instead of producing videos, Rich Sparkle licences the content rights to thousands of sub-affiliates.
Affiliate Uploading: Affiliates take existing Lame clips, re-edit them, insert product links and upload them on thier channels.[9]
AI Individualisation: With the AI avatar new clips can be created fitting local languages for specific local products.[10]
Brand Futurist Thoughts & Reflections
A new area of sponsorship has possibly started: Traditional celebrity sponsorship based on physical exclusivity is being replaced by a sponsorship where the celebrity is an infrastructure. This means a decoupling from body and labor.
For brands this model has convincing advantages:
AI avatars are safe for a brand.
They do not have age, nor scandals and are 100% reliable. The messages can be quickly adapted. Therefore partial brand control can be regained.AI avatars are omnipresent.
They can be at the same time everywhere – in different time zones, with different languages.AI avatars are perfect.
With an A/B testing the expressions, the words, the guestures – everything can be optimised.
This revolutionary new business model has the potential to industrialize the Meaning Transfer Model (McCracken) and to achieve high reach with celebrity communication.
If you want to contribute or have any reflection on the above, please do not hesitate to comment.
[1] https://mlq.ai/news/tiktok-star-khaby-lame-secures-nearly-1-billion-brand-sale-to-hong-kong-firm/
[2] https://www.marketing-interactive.com/khaby-lame-bets-big-on-ai-with-sale-of-brand-firm
[3] https://www.stocktitan.net/news/ANPA/rich-sparkle-anpa-us-shockingly-announces-gathering-global-top-stars-48fk98oeey18.html
[4] https://eu.36kr.com/en/p/3015654297708034
[5] https://de.scribd.com/document/784863282/CASE-5
[6]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305450489_Understanding_meaning_transfer_in_celebrity_endorsements_a_qualitative_exploration
[7] https://mike-marketing-research.share.connect.posit.cloud/celebrity-endorsement.html
[8] https://medium.com/@papriakter240/earning-2-billion-a-year-xiao-yangs-three-sheep-mcn-live-slicing-business-model-is-revealed-2db6af954810
[9] https://de.scribd.com/document/784863282/CASE-5
[10] https://www.marketing-interactive.com/khaby-lame-bets-big-on-ai-with-sale-of-brand-firm