Tom Syndicate and others were paid $30,000 for positive XboxOne promos
The US Federal Trade Commission has found that Machinima paid a group of YouTubers tens of thousands of dollars to promote the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One without declaring the videos were the result of a lucrative advertising deal.
As part of the deal the videos had to “showcase Microsoft products in positive light”.
YouTuber Syndicate was paid $30,000 and SkyVsGaming $15,000 as part of the deal. Neither disclosed that Machinima paid them to create and upload their videos.
Machinima then paid more YouTubers a total of $25,000 to create videos that “could not contain anything negative or disparaging regarding Machinima, Xbox One, or any launch title” and “keep confidential at all times all matters relating to [the] agreement.”
The FTC found that the promotions were not independently produced or impartial and labelled them “false and misleading”.
“In numerous instances, [Machinima] has failed to disclose, or disclose adequately, that the individuals who posted the reviews were compensated in connection with their endorsements,” it said.
“This fact would be material to consumers in their purchasing decisions regarding Xbox One and the Launch Titles. The failure to disclose this fact, in light of the representations made, was, and is, a deceptive practice.”
Posted:
Related Forum: Xbox Forum
Source: https://www.vg247.com/2015/09/03/youtubers-paid-for-false-misleading-xbox-one-promo/
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Comments
RinPosted:
Can't believe some of you are defending this. People were bashing on game review companies for being paid to give out good ratings for games. But when a big YouTuber does the exact same practice, it's no big deal! It doesn't matter if they were being honest or not, they still hid the fact that it was an ad.
Index_AddictPosted:
Theres always an ulterior motive here. Somebody said something or somebody was mad and forced the ftc to take action nothing here was actually illegal or wrong in my opinion
-DeanoPosted:
It's not like they are lying about it. They just have to point out the good things about the system, etc. Not talking about the negatives doesn't mean they aren't there...
SynybunPosted:
People get paid to endorse products all the time. At least in their case, they could actually like the console and wouldn't have been lying when they said positive things about it.
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