Concealed advertising is prohibited in the media, including influencers. This obviously did not prevent McDonald’s France from engaging in this “deceptive commercial” practice. This is in any case what reproaches him with the UFC-What to choose according to France Info, this Wednesday. The consumer association has indeed announced to file a complaint against the fast food brand after spotting on social networks unspecified partnerships, which is therefore prohibited, especially in programs intended for children.
The UFC-Que Choisir gives the example of a video from the YouTube channel Swan & Néo where said Swan pretends to open his own McDonald’s restaurant at home “equipped with impeccable packaging stamped McDo”. Other videos that do not mention the existence of a partnership would be in the sights of the association which notes that “the perfidy of such a lack of transparency increases if the targeted community is made up of children, less armed as adults face hidden advertising messages. “
Minors are particularly protected from advertising messages from food brands, to fight against the imbalance in their diet, especially during youth programs on television. The UFC-Que Choisir also notes that McDonald’s “displays its collaboration with the ” EU Pledge ”, a European self-regulation initiative whose participants undertake not to place any advertising for food in programs intended for young children ”. But McDonald’s goodwill seems to stop at social networks: the video of Swan a Néo, published in October 2020, has been viewed 11.2 million times.