|
Influencers Were Paid Thousands of Dollars to Promote ‘Shadow
of Mordor’
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc. has
settled Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers
during a marketing campaign for the video game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, by
failing to adequately disclose that it paid online “influencers,” including
the wildly popular “PewDiePie,” thousands of dollars to post positive
gameplay videos on YouTube and social media. Over the course of the
campaign, the sponsored videos were viewed more than 5.5 million times.
Under
a proposed FTC order announced today, Warner Bros. is barred from
failing to make such disclosures in the future and cannot misrepresent that
sponsored content, including gameplay videos, are the objective, independent
opinions of video game enthusiasts or influencers.
“Consumers have the right to know if reviewers are providing
their own opinions or paid sales pitches,” said Jessica Rich, Director of
the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Companies like Warner Brothers
need to be straight with consumers in their online ad campaigns.”
The FTC’s complaint stems from a late-2014 Warner Bros. online
marketing campaign designed to generate buzz within the gaming community
for the new release of Middle
Earth: Shadow of Mordor, a fantasy role-playing game loosely
based on The Hobbit
and the Lord of the
Rings trilogy. It was released in September 2014 for the
PlayStation 3 and in November 2014 for the Xbox 360.
According to the complaint, during the campaign, Warner Bros.,
through its advertising agency Plaid Social Labs, LLC, hired online
influencers to develop sponsored gameplay videos and post them on YouTube.
Warner Bros. also told the influencers to promote the videos on Twitter and
Facebook, generating millions of views. PewDiePie’s sponsored video alone
was viewed more than 3.7 million times.
Warner Bros. paid each influencer from hundreds to tens of
thousands of dollars, gave them a free advance-release version of the game,
and told them how to promote it, according to the complaint. The FTC
contends that Warner Bros. required the influencers to promote the game in
a positive way and not to disclose any bugs or glitches they found.
While the videos were sponsored content – essentially ads for Shadow of Mordor – the
FTC alleges that Warner Bros. failed to require the paid influencers to
adequately disclose this fact. The FTC also alleges that Warner Bros. did
not instruct the influencers to include sponsorship disclosures clearly and
conspicuously in the video itself where consumers were likely to see or
hear them.
Instead, according to the complaint, Warner Bros. instructed
influencers to place the disclosures in the description box appearing below
the video. Because Warner Bros. also required other information to be
placed in that box, the vast majority of sponsorship disclosures appeared
“below the fold,” visible only if consumers clicked on the “Show More”
button in the description box. In addition, when influencers posted YouTube
videos on Facebook or Twitter, the posting did not include the “Show More”
button, making it even less likely that consumers would see the sponsorship
disclosures.
The complaint also alleges that in some cases, the influencers
disclosed only that they had received early access to Shadow of Mordor, but
failed to disclose that Warner Bros. also had paid them to promote the
game.
The FTC also alleges that the Warner Bros.’ contracts with
influencers subjected their videos to pre-approval, and that on at least
one occasion Warner Bros. reviewed and approved an influencer video that
lacked adequate sponsorship disclosure.
The Commission’s complaint charges that Warner Bros., through
its marketing campaign, misled consumers by suggesting that the gameplay
videos of Shadow of
Mordor reflected the independent or objective views of the
influencers. The complaint also alleges that Warner Bros. failed to
adequately disclose that the gamers were compensated for their positive
reviews.
The proposed order settling the FTC’s charges prohibits Warner
Bros. from misrepresenting that any gameplay videos disseminated as part of
a marketing campaign are independent opinions or the experiences of
impartial video game enthusiasts. Further, it requires the company to
clearly and conspicuously disclose any material connection between Warner
Bros. and any influencer or endorser promoting its products.
Finally, the order specifies the minimum steps that Warner
Bros., or any entity it hires to conduct an influencer campaign, must take
to ensure that future campaigns comply with the terms of the order. These
steps include educating influencers regarding sponsorship disclosures,
monitoring sponsored influencer videos for compliance, and, under certain
circumstances, terminating or withholding payment from influencers or ad
agencies for non-compliance.
The Commission vote to issue the administrative complaint and
to accept the proposed consent agreement was 3-0. The FTC will publish a
description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register
shortly.
The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days,
beginning today and continuing through August 10, 2016, after which the
Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final.
Interested parties can submit
comments electronically by following the instructions in the
“Invitation to Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section of
the Federal Register notice.
NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative
complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being
violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the
public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final
basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each
violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty.
Contact Information
MEDIA CONTACT:
Mitchell J. Katz,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2161
STAFF CONTACT:
Linda K. Badger,
FTC Western Region, San
Francisco
415-848-5151
Related Cases
For Consumers
For Businesses
More news from the FTC >>
|
No comments:
Post a Comment