It all started when some YouTubers posted a 'Lick Race' Challenge video in June. These videos consisted of them trying to lick the middle part of Oreos as quickly as they could. Quite a light-hearted and fun video to make. However, no one realized this video had actually been paid for by Mondelez UK, who own Oreos.
It was only after BBC Newsround launched an investigation that they realised these Vloggers had been paid to say good things about Oreos, not having made it clear in the title and description of their video. The BBC journalist complained to the Advertisement Standards Authority (ASA) and they listened.
While some of the videos do 'thank Oreos for making this video possible' or state in the description that it is an 'advertisement', the ASA did not think they they had made it clear enough, and suggested the famous YouTubers were misleading their audience....
Important UK development for YouTube marketing programs to note. Stay tuned in the US and elsewhere.