It’s been a battle of the ballerinas in the advertising world as both Under Armour and Free People have featured dancers in their recent campaigns for women’s apparel. And while the public has had far less time to scrutinize the Under Armor spot, it couldn’t be clearer which one they favor.

In May, Free People released a YouTube video to promote their new “FP Movement” line, featuring what appeared to be a beautiful, seasoned ballerina claiming to have been dancing since she was 3. And the internet collectively responded “Oh no she didn’t.”

Hundreds of YouTube comments and tweets criticized everything from the model’s sloppy form to her weak ankles, claiming that there was no way that those ankles belonged to a trained dancer.

As if Free People wasn’t embarrassed enough by being called out as a big fat phony, Under Armour went ahead and released an ad featuring a genuine display of athletic ability from real-life ballerina and American Ballet Theatre soloist Misty Copeland. Copeland and Under Armour show Free People how ballet is really done as she flaunts Under Armour apparel in the brand’s largest-ever women’s ad campaign. In the clip below, Copeland moves beautifully to a VO of a young girl reading Copeland’s past dance academy rejection letters. Wow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY0cdXr_1MA

It just goes to show that it’s a risky game trying to fool an audience into believing what they are watching is authentic, especially an audience that values precision as much as the ballet community does.

Kudos to Under Armour for embracing powerful women who are more than just a pretty face, and who have skills that are real and earned. As real-life Mad Man William Bernbach put it, “The most powerful element in advertising is the truth.” So it is.