PewDiePie is pissed at coverage of the Warner Bros. 'pay for play' settlement
LOS ANGELES -- PewDiePie bashed reporters Wednesday for singling him out in articles about the Federal Trade Commission and Warner Bros. "pay for play" settlement."
In a video uploaded Wednesday -- titled "THE PEWDIEPIE 'SCANDAL'!!" -- the Swedish YouTuber (whose real name is Felix Kjellberg) expressed outrage that the FTC would list him as one of the YouTube creators "reviewing" the publisher's game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
The FTC argues the Burbank-based entertainment company failed to adequately disclose that it paid influencers "hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars" to create sponsored videos that only promote the game in a positive way.
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No particular influencer was named in the FTC settlement itself. However, in its press release, the FTC did mention the "wildly popular" PewDiePie.
“It’s kind of bullshit,” PewDiePie said of the media coverage. “Yes, I could have disclosed it better. I could have put it above the fold… Basically, all these news articles are using me as a clickbait, putting my name to shame when I didn’t even do anything wrong.”
Critics argue that when influencers post endorsement videos — without disclosing they were paid to do the endorsement — it is both unethical and a breach of the FTC's endorsement guidelines. The FTC ruled that all videos made by these influencers related to Shadow of Mordor are therefore "sponsored advertisements."
PewDiePie doesn't agree that the videos are unethical. He cites a Reddit commenter and Twitter user Nicole Sund as the only people who didn't misinterpret the news.
The fantasy role-playing game, released in 2014, is based in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe. Overall, the game was fairly well-received, including by Mashable, which listed it as one of the "top 10 must-play games of 2014."
PewDiePie — who has 46 million subscribers to his channel — posted about the game (below) in September of 2014.
In its description, PewDiePie provided a link to the game as well as the game's YouTube channel.
"I'm not a reviewer," PewDiePie said Wednesday in the video. "How dare you 2014 PewDiePie enjoy a game that is critically acclaimed?"
Comments for his Shadow of Mordor video are now disabled.
In all, sponsored videos for Shadow of Mordor were viewed 5.5 million times, the FTC said. About 3.7 million of those views came from PewDiePie’s sponsored video.
PewDiePie also argued that in 2014 the FTC didn't have guidelines specific to YouTube until 2014.
“Because of this, back then, YouTube paid promotion was a bit of a gray area,” he said. “Nevertheless, I still disclaimed it. It's there in the description.”
Now, he said he will make a verbal mention before video even begins and in top line of description mention it as well.
"I'm all for disclaiming content, I have no problem with it and I'm going to keep doing it."
And PewDiePie's final message to media outlets: "I don't f--ing need you. I have an audience, I can talk to them. You're literally insignificant and that's why you're pulling this shit, because I think you know it."
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Topics YouTube
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
