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Forums - Microsoft Discussion - FTC Slams YouTube Group For 'Deceptive' Xbox Marketing Campaign

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Mr Puggsly on 03 September 2015
czecherychestnut said:
Mr Puggsly said:

Well in my opinion MS is just asking them to preview products in a positive manner. Basically MS just wants people to be aware of their products and what they feature. They can save the trash talk for other videos down the road, such as reviews.

If MS was paying them to say their console was the best or exagerating how great the games look, that would be flat out wrong. You dont have to mislead viewers to discuss a product in a positive manner.

If you pay someone to discuss your product in a positive light, and you disclose that arrangement, no problem. But the arrangement between Starcom and Machinima specifically prohibited the disclosure of the arrangement, and therefore the video's were misleading because they portrayed an independent review or opinion when in fact it wasn't independent. If you wanted the money, it had to be positive coverage and the arrangement couldn't be disclosed, but the viewers weren't aware of either condition. 

I feel positive coverage is basically anything not negative. Hence, merely discussing what the game is and why its interesting can be positive. But I think others perceive this deal as MS wants people to flat out lie about the product. You can be positive without misleading.

Again, if the video producers are lying to get money thats wrong. Paying for good reviews also wrong. But getting paid to discuss what you like about an upcoming game is fine. Thats kinda what a preview often is. This isnt black and white.



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Puppyroach on 03 September 2015

I don't get it: So MS paid them to do favorable Xbox coverage. What is the difference between this and advertising? Also, we have numerous "official Xbox, PS, Nintendo" review sites, does anyone think they will ever be objective? So I don't really get what the complaint is? Someone care to explain?



kurasakiichimaru on 03 September 2015

A lot of SonyToo™ posts in here hahaha



WC4Life on 03 September 2015

Be it review/let's play/preview, when money changes hands it should always be mentioned. MS is not the only one doing it and these tactics are used to promote any product imaginable. You can bet there are streamers who are playing a specific game just for marketing reasons, paid by the dev/pub and without any disclosure. Social media has become just another tool for manipulation, money talks.



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cheshirescat on 03 September 2015
Puppyroach said:
I don't get it: So MS paid them to do favorable Xbox coverage. What is the difference between this and advertising? Also, we have numerous "official Xbox, PS, Nintendo" review sites, does anyone think they will ever be objective? So I don't really get what the complaint is? Someone care to explain?

The issue isn't that they were being paid for the favorable coverage, the issue is that they weren't upfront about it, indeed they're accused of outright hiding the fact.  You ever watch a commercial and see a lot of tiny white print at the bottom of the screen?  That's the stuff telling you that the celebrity endorsing the product is being paid for their time, or that the account given in the ad is being made by an actor not some schmuck off the street giving you a heartfelt recommendation (unless otherwise stated of course).  It's a truth in advertising thing, people are generally more prone to trusting an endorsement from someone they feel is unbiased, and to try and atificially create that sense of impartiality is tantamount to false advertisement.

 



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AlfredoTurkey on 03 September 2015
CosmicSex said:
AlfredoTurkey said:


All three companies do things like this behind the scenes. Don't get tricked into the whole "good vs. evil" nonsense. 


When Sony 'misled' people with the PS Vita advertising they had to pay.  And that was right.  This isn't good vs evil and I never insinuated that everyone does not.  I do however feel that Microsoft should pay for this transgression because they were wrong.    I believe that if corporations want to have 'personhood' then they must be held accountable in the same way that a person would.   This barely registers on the scale of bad things that companies have done, but that doesn't mean Microsoft gets a pass.   No one should get a pass. 

So you should not be fooled by a ligitmate critisism. of any corporation.   We need to stand together as consumers. 


I take action when results can be had. In this particular case, nothing we do can and will change things. The US, right now, is under the control of big business. Almost everything we watch and read is either paid for, or influened by said businesses. Even the politicians are nothing more than talking corporate puppets.

The best defense against this sort of thing is developing really good critical thinking skills. I think we should arm our children with them from birth so when they get out there, and see things, they can immediately go "THAT'S BULLSHIT".



gooch_destroyer on 03 September 2015

Sheeit Mircosoft pay me. I'll shill for your Xbone.



method114 on 03 September 2015
celador said:
Not surprising MS had to go to these measures to get positive news for the X1 at launch.

Does make you wonder about the numerous articles throughout this year with a laser focus on Q4 exclusives between PS4 and X1, and the brushing over of the rest of the year.


There's nothing to wonder our media has become trash. I don't even listen to reviews anymore you cant trust anyone anymore. I switched to PC gaming and now I pirate all my games try them out and then buy it if I like it.