Microsoft through Machinima supposedly promoting Xbox One through incentivised YouTubers?

Something blowing up on Reddit at the moment is how supposedly Microsoft are paying YouTube video makers for producing positive content about the Xbox One. Nothing negative is allowed against Machinima, Xbox One or the games and all this is under NDA.

There’s a load of whooha spreading along the interwebs. ArsTechnica seems to be the only one at the moment with a comment from Machinima and Microsoft:

This partnership between Machinima and Microsoft was a typical marketing partnership to promote Xbox One in December. The Xbox team does not review any specific content or provide feedback on content. Any confidentiality provisions, terms, or other guidelines are standard documents provided by Machinima. For clarity, confidentiality relates to the agreements themselves, not the existence of the promotion.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/01/stealth-marketing-microsoft-paying-youtubers-for-xbox-one-mentions/

It’s one thing to incentivise someone to talk about your product. It’s another to prohibit the full disclosure of their opinion about your product.  e.g. When YouTube shelled out Nexus phones to popular YouTubers or when Nokia Connects lends trial devices out. With Nokia Connects, they always make sure to tell us that they want to hear our criticisms. Good and bad comments.

I’m not sure if I’m recalling this right but I think I read somewhere that at least in the UK, ‘bloggers’ and the like are meant to say whether their posts are ‘promotional’ material as opposed to just regular reviews. The Office of Fair Trading is at least making sure that any one endorsing another brand has to be open about it (as opposed to genuinely just mentioning something they’re using/liking). The same thing with FTC.

Category: Nokia