How do companies get away with saying “Real people, not actors” when it’s quite obvious that they are actors?
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A common tactic is to have actors read actual customer testimonials. Since most people react more positively to attractive people, they’re getting photogenic people who perform well on camera to read something an actual customer wrote. It’s a bit of a splitting hairs situation, but it does make the claim (at least somewhat) truthful.
Apart from that, though, there’s nobody really taking companies to task about it, and no real mechanism to do so. Frankly, it’s generally accepted that most advertising is frequently lies or exaggerations, so it basically boils down to “you know we know you’re lying.”
It also doesn’t fall under the heading of false advertising (unless they take the statements way too far), so there’s no legal avenue to pursue. The closest complaint that could probably stick would be misrepresentation, and given what companies spend on that advertising – and what they make on it – the penalty would be a pittance in comparison even if someone did care enough to try to make a stink about it.
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