It all kicked off with Oreos.
Several popular vloggers were sent biscuits and, working with Oreo, challenged their viewers to an Oreo lick race. The resulting content has prompted the Advertising Standards Agency to respond. The ASA has put out a statement reiterating that online content advertising or promoting a product or service needs to be clearly marked. With videos, they say, that means making sure viewers know before they click to watch.
See the full ASA statement here.
Lynsay Taffe from the ASA told the BBC’s Newsround: “Brands and vloggers now have to make it very clear, before you click on a video, that it’s a promotional video.”
That means if a vlogger is paid to promote a product, they need to put something like the word “ad” or “promo” in the title of their video – or use a symbol in the thumbnail telling viewers what they’re about to click on is an advert.
What’s clear and what’s not
So this part of the ruling is clear: If you are paid to say, Hey this is a great product, I love it, then you need to let viewers know before they start watching your video. If it’s an ad, you need to let viewers know.
But here’s what’s murkier: What if you are simply given a product to review and can say whatever you want about it? What if you are paid to talk about a certain product or service or mention it, but the exact content you’re creating is up to you?
On one hand, the ASA guidelines are clear and unchanged from what we’ve written about before:
“Where an advertiser has paid for and has editorial control over content produced by a third party, in this case the vlogger’s YouTube videos, this has to be made clear upfront. ”
The most important thing to remember
The important term is “editorial control”. If they have it, if they have to “approve” your video or comments, then they have editorial control.
If you read the ASA’s previous guidelines for video blogs, today’s statement is simply an affirmation of their stance. You don’t have to go all official-like. The ASA says, “Labels or disclosures don’t necessarily have to be formal, they can match the vlogger’s style, they just need to be clear.”You can still do commercial vlogs. You can still work with brands.
Just make sure your viewers know who is in control.
Read more about sponsored content rules
BritMums: The ASA clarifies its sponsored post guidelines
The ASA’s general guidelines for vloggers
Image of vlogger by Vladimir Gjorgiev via Shutterstock
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BritMums is the UK’s original collective of lifestyle bloggers and digital influencers, fueling the country’s most influential social content. We lead the online conversation with members who are parent social influencers creating content on topics ranging from food, parenting, travel, politics, style and more.