Product placement on YouTube | Influencer marketing, child version

Advertising for children under 13 on traditional TV? Clearly prohibited in Quebec. But on YouTube? A gray area allows influencers and brands to sneak in and make young people dream without being slapped on the wrist.

“I want Nikes. »

When Véronique Bélanger heard her 6-year-old daughter express this desire, she was initially surprised. The little girl was eyeing sneakers imitating the Nike logo in a store. “I didn’t know she knew that word,” summarizes the mother of Sorel-Tracy.

It was in the days that followed that Véronique made the connection, paying more attention to the favorite YouTube channel of her 6 and 9 year old daughters: that of “La famille Ventura”, Quebec content creators. Nike is among the many brands that can be seen in the videos of these influencers, like Roblox, Kawaii, Disney, PlayStation, Amazon and even Instax from Fujifilm. Brands like McDonald’s, Salvatoré pizza, Crush and Oreo are also frequently shown.

The Ventura family – made up of influencer Priscilla Brosseau, her husband Emmanuel Ventura and their three children – is not known in traditional media. But in social networks, she is clearly visible. The Venturas are present on TikTok, Instagram and of course on YouTube, where their videos have accumulated more than 80 million views since the creation of their channel in 2015.

On YouTube, Ventura’s niche is to challenge themselves. And these challenges are often linked to the world of children: finding the coolest school supplies, eating strange candy, transforming a trampoline into a video game room or even making a secret Barbie room. Themes usually involve purchases, like giving 100 gifts in 24 hours or giving the kids the credit card for 24 hours. The editing is lively, amusing, and the couple’s three children are amply shown. “We can certainly see this message as being able to address children of the age of those who appear in the videos,” estimates jurist Pierre Trudel, professor at the faculty of law at the University of Montreal. On the same channel, other videos address themes that are more relevant to parents, such as pregnancy or house construction.

Depuis qu’elles ont découvert la chaîne de la famille Ventura, les filles de Véronique Bélanger ont demandé à maman les mêmes bonbons, les mêmes jouets, une chambre identique à celle des filles… « Elles m’ont aussi demandé de faire la même croisière Disney », précise l’enseignante, qui a fini par l’interdire à la maison. « C’est toujours de gros cadeaux, des grosses marques, les parents ne disent jamais non ; ce n’est pas ça, la réalité », dit-elle.

Émilie Grenon et son conjoint Dominique Longpré soupçonnent l’algorithme de YouTube d’avoir fait découvrir à leurs enfants les chaînes de la famille Ventura et de Willibed – un autre créateur de contenu proche des Ventura. Ils ont tenté – en vain – d’éliminer les chaînes des suggestions de YouTube, les trouvant trop axées sur la surconsommation.

« À la télévision, ce serait interdit. C’est clair, clair, clair », dit André H. Caron, professeur émérite à l’Université de Montréal, qui a regardé quelques vidéos de la famille Ventura à la demande de La Presse.

Priscilla Brosseau et Emmanuel Ventura n’ont pas donné suite à nos multiples demandes d’entrevue. C’est leur agent aux États-Unis, James Harrison, qui a indiqué qu’ils « ne participaient pas à des entrevues », tout comme Willibed.

La Presse a aussi envoyé des courriels aux services de communication de Nike, McDonald’s, Amazon, Walmart, Roblox, Mondolez (pour Oreo), Roblox, Mattel, qui sont restés sans réponse. Pizza Salvatoré a pour sa part indiqué que ses partenariats ciblent « le groupe des 18-30 ans dans des contextes de divertissements familiaux, ludiques et conviviaux à l’image de [ses] products also accessible to a wider and more diversified clientele”.

Gray area

In 1978, Quebec passed a law to prohibit commercial advertising aimed at children under 13, with the aim of protecting this group considered “very vulnerable” to commercial manipulation. Forty years later, the advertising and media industries remain subject to this law, the strictest in North America.

Meanwhile, on social media, children are exposed not only to traditional advertising, but also to a lot of product placement within the shows themselves. Many creators appreciated by young Quebecers come from the United States, like MrBeast and Nastya, and from France, like Swan and Néo. These creators earn advertising revenue from YouTube, but also from product placements and partnerships. Madame Récré, in France, collects tens and tens of millions of views by unboxing toys, such as LOL dolls.

“As soon as they see toys that they saw at Madame Récré, my children are attracted,” emphasizes Montrealer Myriam Boulanger. I feel like it’s advertising. » Her mother-in-law, where the children listened to her, ended up making Madame Récré “retire”.

The web and social networks do not escape the ban provided for in Quebec law: when the content targets consumers in Quebec, the law applies. In 2018, Kellogg Canada was ordered to pay $9,300 for offering Rice Krispies coloring and craft materials on its Canadian site.

According to several stakeholders we spoke to, however, content creators fall into a “gray area” that can make the application of advertising laws more complicated.

“Influencers present the product in a playful, pleasant or amusing context, rather than as part of a formatted message coming from the sponsor himself,” underlines lawyer Pierre Trudel. However, he says, there are many arguments to claim that it is advertising within the meaning of the law.

Director of the information and communication department at Laval University, Christian Desîlets considers that, when there is a transaction between a brand and an influencer, whether it is money, products or services, “it ‘is advertising.’ Creators will sometimes present products in an “organic” way, because they like them, without being paid to do so, according to former influencer agent Marie-Pier Lessard.

On her Instagram account, which does not appeal to children, Priscilla Brosseau publishes sponsored photos, which can be distinguished by the words “paid partnership” or the hashtags “pub” or “ad” . It includes names that can be seen in the family’s YouTube videos, like McDonald’s, Amazon and Barbie. On their YouTube channel, the Ventura only occasionally talk about partnerships – like with gaming Match Masters.

YouTube states that creators are required to declare any “paid product placement, endorsement or sponsorship,” allowing the audience to see the “paid promotion” label. “Creators and brands are responsible for complying with their local and legal obligations,” says Zaitoon Murji, YouTube spokesperson.

Under the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, an industry self-regulatory tool, influencers must disclose “clearly and conspicuously”, alongside their publications, any material connection (free products or services, remuneration , discount voucher, etc.).

13 years and over

In its terms of service, YouTube indicates that you must be at least 13 years old to use its service. Accounts belonging to children are terminated when discovered, we are told at YouTube. According to a recent survey conducted by the MediaSmarts organization, half of respondents aged 9 to 11 said they had an account.

In Quebec, a brand is entitled to advertise a good or service intended for children, but on two conditions: that the advertising is not attractive to them and that it is broadcast in a media that does not reach them. not. “Brands could say that it’s the same thing on social networks, to the extent that there is a portal for 13 years and over at the entrance,” underlines advertising executive Stéphane Mailhiot, president of Havas MTL. However, he never recommends it to his clients. “There may be gray areas, but brands should never forget that there is a reputational stake in stretching the rubber band,” he says.

According to Pierre Trudel, the age limit is not sufficient to exempt social networks from the laws in force. He draws a parallel with an erotic store or an alcohol store which would not carry out any checks to confirm that its customers are indeed of the required age. “We have to ask ourselves if it is intended for people under 13 and if it can be meaningful for them,” he says.

Quebec is lagging behind in terms of regulation, according to Professor André H. Caron, who collaborated with the Office of Consumer Protection (OPC) in the development of the law. It would not be complicated, according to him, to bring these content creators to order.

The Consumer Protection Office, responsible for applying the law, does not appear to have been contacted to date. “A summary examination of complaints from the last year regarding commercial advertising targeting under-13s leads us to believe that there would be none against one or more influencers,” writes Charles Tanguay, spokesperson for the ‘OPC.

“Is the Quebec society of 2023 as convinced as it was that there should not be advertising aimed at children? », asks Pierre Trudel. Regardless, he sees a “very big problem of inconsistency” at the moment. “If we find that a law is necessary off the internet, we must have the courage to also apply it on the internet. Otherwise, it’s not serious. »