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Ryan and his parents have had a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over his sponsored content.
The mega popular kid YouTuber "Ryan ToysReview" has been reprinted by the Federal Trade Commission by a consumer watchdog.
The channel stars Ryan, a 7-year-old who has been YouTubing since 2015. His account is run by his parents, Shion and Kieu-Loan Guan, who began filming their son with unboxing toys when he was a toddler.
"Ryan ToysReview" has since grown into a media empire. The original channel has more than 21 million subscribers and more than 31 billion times.
Ryan now stars in a show on Nick Jr. called Ryan's Mystery Playdate, in addition to his channel. He has scored with Colgate, Carl's Jr., and Walmart.
But according to consumer watchdog Truth in Advertising, Ryan and his parents have been "deceiving millions of young children" on a daily basis by taking these ad deals, but not disclosing them properly.
In a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week, Truth in Advertising said that Ryan's channel "deceptively promotes a multitude of products to millions of preschool-aged children in violation of FTC law."
Ryan's channel is doing so, the complaint alleges, by weaving in the happy with the rest of his antics. The watchdog gives a few examples of a two-in-one movie. While one, the watchdog says, seems to be ad, the other is an ad for Carl's Jr, aka Hardee's.
"Unfortunately, it is often difficult to discern the innocent (or sometimes not so innocent) antics in Ryan ToysReview videos from the sponsored content," Truth in Advertising Claims. "And for preschoolers, it's impossible to discern the difference."
The complaint says that while an adult would be able to say that most of them would not be able to. Take the below video an an example.
Ryan has "teamed up with Colgate" and Colgate branding, there is no ad that designates it as a commercial.
Truth in Advertising says that they are in the market, they are being sold.
"The perceptual cues present in television programming that allow five year olds to
Ryan ToysReview videos do, "they wrote." Thus, it is not surprising that preschoolers do not realize that they are being marketed to these online settings. . "
Truth in Advertising, Ryan 's channel is violating FTC law. That law states that "must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed in a way that will be understood by the intended audience."
"In this case, the audience is unable to understand what is advertising and is not even clearing commercial," the complaint reads. "Thus, the company's native advertising violates FTC law."
Ryan ToysReview did not return a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.
A spokesman for Truth in Advertising BuzzFeed News Democratic Rep. Anna Eschoo about her work examining deceptive social media marketing to children.
Rep. Eschoo, along with a handful of other congresspeople, asked the FTC to look into deceptive online marketing to kids in May. They named Ryan 's channel, among others, as channels to investigate.
"When we look into it, we are trying to protect the millions of preschoolers exposed to the deceptive advertising in the videos," the Truth in Advertising spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the FTC confirmed the claim against Ryan ToysReview, but said they could not confirm it if they have opened an investigation.
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