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Child Social Media Influencers and Unhealthy Food Product Placement Amaal Alruwaily, Chelsea Mangold, Tenay Greene, Josh Arshonsky, Omni Cassidy, Jennifer L

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Child Social Media Influencers and Unhealthy Food Product Placement Amaal Alruwaily, Chelsea Mangold, Tenay Greene, Josh Arshonsky, Omni Cassidy, Jennifer L Child Social Media Influencers and Unhealthy Food Product Placement Amaal Alruwaily, MPH,a Chelsea Mangold, MPH,a Tenay Greene, BA,a Josh Arshonsky, BA,a Omni Cassidy, PhD,a Jennifer L. Pomeranz, JD, MPH,b Marie Bragg, PhDa,b OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine the frequency with which kid influencers promote branded abstract and unbranded food and drinks during their YouTube videos and assess the nutritional quality of food and drinks shown. METHODS: Researchers used Socialbakers data to identify the 5 most-watched kid influencers (ages 3 to 14 years) on YouTube in 2019. We searched for 50 of their most-watched videos and 50 of their videos that featured food and/or drinks on the thumbnail image of the video. We coded whether kid influencers consumed or played with food or toys, quantified the number of minutes food and/or drinks appeared, and recorded names of branded food and/or drinks. We assessed the nutritional quality of foods using the Nutrient Profile Model and identified the number of drinks with added sugar. RESULTS: A sample of 418 YouTube videos met the search criteria, and 179 of those videos featured food and/or drinks. Food and/or drinks were featured in those videos 291 times. Kid influencers’ YouTube videos were collectively viewed .48 billion times, and videos featuring food and/or drinks were viewed 1 billion times. Most food and/or drinks were unhealthy branded items (n = 263; 90.34%; eg, McDonald’s), followed by unhealthy unbranded items (n = 12; 4.1%; eg, hot dogs), healthy unbranded items (n = 9; 3.1%; eg, fruit), and healthy branded items (n = 7; 2.4%; eg, Yoplait yogurt). CONCLUSIONS: Kid influencers generate millions of impressions for unhealthy food and drink brands through product placement. The Federal Trade Commission should strengthen regulations regarding product placement on YouTube videos featuring young children. aDepartment of Population Health, School of Medicine and bSchool of Global Public Health, New York University, WHAT’S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Exposure to food New York, New York advertising is associated with poor diet, and food companies have increased online advertising in Ms Alruwaily made significant contributions to the conception and design of the study and acquired response to growing social media use. Young children the data; Ms Mangold made significant contributions to the acquisition of data; Ms Greene, Mr Arshonsky, and Ms Pomeranz made significant contributions to the analyses and interpretation of have limited cognitive abilities to recognize data and drafted sections of the manuscript; Dr Cassidy made significant contributions to the advertising, which may be exacerbated by branded conception and design of the study and drafted sections of the manuscript; Dr Bragg made influencer posts. significant contributions to the conception and design of the study and acquisition of data, WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: This study is the first to conducted the analyses and interpretation, and drafted sections of the manuscript; and all authors critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content, approved the final manuscript document the array of unhealthy branded products as submitted, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. promoted through YouTube kid influencers. Most food advertising research has focused on television DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-4057 commercials or online advertisements produced by Accepted for publication Aug 17, 2020 companies. This new frontier has been largely Address correspondence to Marie Bragg, PhD, Department of Population Health, School of Medicine, unstudied. New York University, 180 Madison Ave, Room 352, New York, NY 10016. E-mail: marie.bragg@ nyulangone.org To cite: Alruwaily A, Mangold C, Greene T, et al. Child PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005; Online, 1098-4275). Social Media Influencers and Unhealthy Food Product Placement. Pediatrics. 2020;146(5):e20194057 Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/news by guest on September 26, 2021 PEDIATRICS Volume 146, number 5, November 2020:e20194057 ARTICLE Poor dietary habits during childhood place youth at an increased risk for obesity and diet-related health conditions later in life, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.1 One environmental contributor to children’s diet is exposure to food advertising.2 Food and beverage companies spend $1.8 billion annually on youth-targeted marketing,3 which is concerning given laboratory studies have revealed that children who are exposed to food advertisements consume more calories than children who are exposed to nonfood advertisements.2 Although television advertising is a major source of food marketing,3,4 companies have dramatically FIGURE 1 fl increased online advertising in A screenshot of food-related videos posted on 1 kid in uencer channel in the sample. response to consumers’ growing social media use.5,6 One of the most online celebrities with large social directly or via their parents.10 The popular social media sites accessed media fan bases who shape fans’ highest-paid YouTube influencer in by adults and youth is YouTube,7 opinions by subtly or overtly 2018 and 2019, for example, was an a video-sharing platform that allows endorsing products in their videos.9 8-year-old who earned $26 million users to post self-generated videos on In contrast to mainstream celebrities from advertisements that appeared their personal channels as well as (eg, LeBron James) who generate before the video and sponsored posts view, “like,” comment on, and share fame from traditional means (such as (ie, product placements that appear videos posted by others. YouTube professional sports or Hollywood during the video).13,14 The extent to also provides a significant amount of movies), influencers are “everyday which companies use kid influencers content that is viewed by children.7 people” whose primary tool for to market food and beverage More than 80% of parents with building fame involves creating products is unknown. a child ,12 years of age allow their entertaining or engaging YouTube child to watch YouTube, and 35% of videos or social media posts that help Psychological theories and parents report that their child them attract large numbers of social experimental research studies watches YouTube “regularly.”7 media followers. Kid influencers are suggest that kid influencers’ may Children as young as age 2 to 8 years children whose parents film videos of influence YouTube viewers in spend nearly an hour a day using the child playing with toys or multiple ways. First, product mobile devices, and 75% of those engaging in family-friendly activities placements build brand awareness children use their devices to watch (Fig 1).10 The parents then post those and shape product preferences videos on social media platforms like videos on YouTube for other children among children.15 Such product YouTube.8 Given that sites like and parents to watch for preferences can lead to increased YouTube have created a new entertainment. Burgeoning evidence “pester power,” in which children beg advertising frontier with the ability to suggests that consumers increasingly parents for specific products or reach large numbers of children and – perceive influencers as more relatable brands.16 20 In fact, pester power caregivers, it is critical to examine the and trustworthy than mainstream results in $190 billion in sales each extent to which these social media celebrities.11 Recognizing the year.21 Second, children ages sites promote unhealthy food and booming popularity of influencers, #8 years have limited cognitive beverage products that could shape companies are increasingly hiring abilities to recognize advertising.21,22 children and parents’ dietary these persuasive spokespersons to Many children ,8 years old cannot decisions. promote their products.12 Hiring kid distinguish between commercials and One novel social media advertising influencers has the added potential of cartoons.21 Such susceptibility to tool involves hiring “influencers,” reaching younger audiences either advertising may be exacerbated by Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/news by guest on September 26, 2021 2 ALRUWAILY et al influencers because their branded views, channel subscribers, and likes for increasing viewership because it posts are subtly interspersed with associated with the 5 most-watched is designed to attract viewers by their unbranded posts, making it kid influencer channels on YouTube; showcasing the video’s appealing more difficult for children or their (2) quantify the frequency of product content (Fig 1). Anyone who creates caregivers to discern persuasive placements for branded and YouTube videos controls which intent.5 Finally, social norms unbranded food and/or drinks in thumbnail appears by selecting an theory23–25 may inform how kid those kid influencers’ YouTube image they want to use as the influencers shape parents’ videos; (3) determine the amount of thumbnail.29 We then recorded behaviors. Social norms theory time food and/or drinks appear each video’s publication date and suggests that parents may see that during the videos; and (4) assess the the number of views and likes a video has millions of views and nutritional quality of the food and (Table 1). We also identified the age thousands of “likes,” which may drinks. of children shown in the videos by indicate that it is socially searching for other videos on their acceptable to allow children to watch channel in which their date of birth is METHODS the videos. In addition, influencers reported. may generate feelings of trust with Researchers identified kid influencer viewers because they are both channels on YouTube in July 2019 Quantifying the Frequency of Food celebrities and “everyday people,”11 through the YouTube statistics tool and/or Drink Product Placements fl ’ maintained by Socialbakers, which may in uence parents We created a content analysis a social media analytics program decisions to purchase endorsed codebook to identify (1) the that has been used in other public products.
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