Lead Image Credit: PewDiePie
This week it was reported that Warner Bros had paid YouTube 'influencers' for positive review of their games.
Included in that list was PewDiePie, who is undoubtedly the most famous YouTuber.
Advert
PewDiePie has hit back at claims he published game reviews without making it clear enough they were paid-for by Warner Bros. Warner Bros was accused of failing to disclose that it had paid high-profile YouTubers to cover Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor two years ago, according to The Verge.
The Federal Trade Commission weighed in on the debate.
"Consumers have the right to know if reviewers are providing their own opinions or paid sales pitches," director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection Jessica Rich said in a statement. "Companies like Warner Brothers need to be straight with consumers in their online ad campaigns."
PewDiePie has now responded to these claims.
Advert
"A lot of YouTubers were involved in this sponsorship," says PewDiePie, real name Felix Kjellberg. "But since my name is the biggest YouTuber, my name is the only one that pops up. Basically what happened was that we weren't required to disclose. I still did it. Some other YouTubers actually didn't disclose."
He had actually included a one-line disclaimer in the 'more' section of his video's description.
He posted a full video to his channel addressing the issue:
PewDiePie suggests that as he isn't actually a reviewer that there was no issue with taking the money. Which sounds fair enough until you take into account that a majority of his videos get in excess of five million views.
Advert
Words by Matthew Cooper
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Warner Bros, pewdiepie