Alcohol advertising viewing on YouTube 'out of control' research claims
Alcohol advertising through YouTube is ‘out of control’ it has been claimed following research that has found that under-18s were accessing adult-orientated content through the site.
The study, conducted by London digital agency AccuraCast, claimed that 6% of the views of adult content on YouTube are by 13-17 year olds, meaning around 600,000 children will have viewed an advert by an alcohol brand.
The research also found that a video with 250,000 viewers on the Desperados channel was popular with young females, while the latest Malibu Run advertisement, which had over 60,000 views, was also popular with females aged between 13-17.
Farhad Divecha, MD of AccuraCast, commented: “Our research shows that YouTube has lost control of its alcohol related content and that YouTube alcohol uploads currently break every social taboo and regulation in the book.
“The watershed that TV imposes on advertising is meaningless on YouTube and the few controls that are in place are simple to bypass,” added Divecha. “Alcohol brand channels impose age verification boxes but they're far too easy to fake and if users go to a video directly instead of going to the channel, there's no age verification process at all.”
Divecha added that part of YouTube’s success was its immediacy and that ‘anything goes’ on the site.
“The flip side is that anyone can easily upload alcohol ads to their own YouTube accounts and then provide access to absolutely everyone.”
“Drinks companies can spend a fortune getting 5 million views via traditional media while YouTube can deliver 20 million views for nothing,” adds Divecha. “Banned commercials, which broadcasters or government thought not good enough to air on TV often make their way to YouTube, go viral, and get millions of views.”