Consumers watch beauty vlogs on YouTube to learn more about the latest trends, new products and for tutorials helping them learn to properly apply their favorite cosmetics. However, many of these vlogs contain false information, effectively misleading viewers.
Anytime a vlogger is paid to endorse a certain company or brand, they are required to disclose this to viewers during the video. Some companies and vloggers abide by this rule, but others opt to ignore it, which can lead to serious consequences.
P&G Cited by the ASA
Proctor & Gamble — the company behind big brands like Pantene, Olay and Max Factor — actually got into trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over one of their videos. Ruth Crilly, one of P&G’s paid vloggers, posted a video on the company’s Beauty Recommended YouTube channel endorsing Max Factor products.
Another beauty and style blogger submitted a complaint to the ASA noting that Crilly’s video didn’t identify itself as a paid endorsement. Crilly has her own YouTube channel, called A Model Recommends, which has approximately 300,000 subscribers. She also has more than 54,000 Twitter followers.
The ASA agreed with the complaint, determining P&G violated the rules of marketing communication and misleading advertising. The video was banned and P&G was ordered to make sure all future vlogs of this nature clearly identified as commercials. P&G admitted to having full editorial control over the YouTube channel, but claimed all videos began with text noting that it sponsored the channel.
However, the ASA disagreed saying the channel gave “no indication” that it was owned and operated by P&G. To combat future occurrences of this issue, P&G now includes #ad at the beginning of each company-sponsored video.
P&G has likely learned its lesson, but the incident raises the question of how many other companies are paying vloggers to post advertisements, but not disclosing this arrangement to consumers?
As one of the most innovative companies in the beauty industry, P&G is always at the forefront of the latest trends, such as vlogging. As this is a relatively new arena, the industry has yet to set uniform standards that companies can abide by to stay vigilant when using vlogger services. This episode may serve as much-needed a wakeup call to the industry as a whole.
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