Hey, guys. It's Jac Jac.
Today, we're going to be unboxing some boxes.
We've got some really cool boxes for you today from Boxes'n'Boxes.
You might not always pick up on it, but YouTubers like this guy...
Well, legit YouTubers
with a lot of followers anyway,
they can get a lot of money from businesses
just to feature their products in their videos.
And guess what - guys, there's another box.
(LAUGHS) Boxes'n'Boxes, what are you doing?
Boxes?
(SCOFFS)
Actually, I could use a box to organise all these little boxes.
What was the brand of box again?
Boxes'n'Boxes.
While sometimes it's pretty clear what's being sold to us,
other times it's not as obvious.
It fits him so good, too.
That's something a team of researchers has been looking at
in the United States.
They studied videos of the five most popular kidfluencers on YouTube
and found they were full of endorsements and product placements.
Out of the more than 400 videos they looked at,
almost a third featured foods and drinks,
and researchers considered most of them to be unhealthy.
These drinks are making me hungry. Let's get some food.
They say that can be a real problem, especially for young kids,
because they can't always tell the difference
between an ad and just a fun video.
And when they're exposed to those kinds of ads,
it can encourage unhealthy eating habits,
which can lead to things like obesity and diabetes.
You see, YouTube doesn't let ads play
before or during videos that are made for kids,
but the rules around showing products and videos are a little different.
And that's why YouTubers, or kidfluencers like these guys,
are able to make money from companies
to unbox, play with and even eat their products in their videos.
Micky Mouse, what would you like to eat today?
Mmm! Let's see. There's so many food on the breakfast menu.
The parents of Ryan's World,
which was one of the YouTube videos the study looked at,
say they always follow social media and advertising guidelines,
but others reckon the rules should be clearer and tougher.
Here in Australia, there are a bunch of rules
when it comes to advertising during kids' programs on TV.
For starters, the products have to be kid friendly.
They can't promote an unhealthy lifestyle,
like eating too much junk food,
and they can't use popular characters or celebrities to sell stuff.
Some people reckon similar rules should apply to YouTube
and that creators need to be more transparent
when it comes to the content of their content.
So, what do you think?
I think the person that's promoting it should step up
and tell them that they are selling something.
But if they don't, YouTube does need to step in
and put an 'Includes Paid Promotion' sticker on there.
Some YouTubers, they create a section just for that product,
whereas some YouTubers, they just secretly hide it
in the corner of the video or something.
It's someone they look up to and they want to be just like them,
so they want to buy these products and use them.
If they're being paid to advertise it,
they're obviously going to give it better reviews
than what they might genuinely feel towards it,
so they should disclose that to the audience
because it's not an honest review, if they're being paid to do it.