One of the most amazing channels on the Internet that many
companies fail to recognize in their social media strategies is YouTube. The
impact of the content on YouTube was brought to attention this past week when
their most popular personality, Felix Kjellberg, known as his screenname PewDiePie,
was dropped from the site because of his content that included crude
anti-Semitic jokes and references to Hitler. Kjellberg’s sponsors also stated
that they would not work with him again because of his crude comedy.
This situation has raised many questions about the level of
vetting and oversight that advertisers and media companies should have for
social media influencers and the content they are creating. Many companies
choose to work with social media influencers rather than well-known regular
celebrities because they are cheaper to work with. However, I believe that the
standards need to be the same for both groups of people.
If a brand chooses to work with a person it is important to
conduct full audits, background checks and understand risks associated with
them. In the instance of Kjellberg’s association, his sponsors and YouTube
should have been paying more attention to the content he was posting for the
world to see, because their name is attached to everything he publishes.
The internet is a great place to advertise one’s brand
however, because it’s such a big place it is important to be frequently
checking who you’re associating with and what image they are sending out.
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