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Cru Jones

Member
Oct 28, 2017
114
If Burger King were to approach this traditionally, they'd have to reach out to these streamers and compensate them much more heavily. Five dollars to reach potentially hundreds of thousands of viewers is absurd, especially without the consent of the channel.

Also, weirdly slimy move to see coming from of Ogilvy.

The streamer set up the ability to have messages read out loud in exchange for money. Nothing was hijacked. They can also just ban the account if they don't want the money.

there are things to be outraged about and things that aren't a big deal, and IMO this is firmly in the "who cares" spectrum of outrage.
 

Milennia

Prophet of Truth - Community Resetter
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,254
Kinda like that cashapp shit where they donate insane amounts of subs to streamers for a shoutout and chat explodes as opposed to signing actual brand deals with the streamers, at least in that case the streamers get at minumum a 100-200 sub boost out of it I guess.
 

Luckett_X

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,406
Leeds, UK
Felt incredible irony at watching streamers in all branded gaming chairs and setups scoff at having an automated Burger King bot donate and read off an ad while they played Fortnite on Jeff Bezos' Streaming Platform ™ as if it was capitalism's greatest crime yet.
 

NightShift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,001
Australia
Honestly, I'd rather this than the usual shitty donation messages from people trying too hard to be funny and mildly confusing the streamer.

Although I only watch streams after they've been recorded and posted on youtube so I find it funny how we've gone full circle to fast forwarding through the ad breaks again.
 

Charismagik

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,184
I don't have a problem with it. Not any worse than the random crap people say. Pretty smart idea, actually
 

Bansai

Teyvat Traveler
Member
Oct 28, 2017
11,236
That's pretty slick. The person who got this idea should get a raise.

I don't doubt many streamers will get salty though, much better cash could be made for them via official sponsorship. I already saw one hitting up Wendy's twitter saying something to show BK how proper fast food connects with streamers, lol.
 

IIFloodyII

Member
Oct 26, 2017
23,963
Why would anyone have a bot that reads comments of donations in their stream? That seems ripe for abuse. Idk much about twitch culture but that makes zero sense.
Because people pay a lot more, it's been a thing for years, so a lot of the really bad shit is well filtered out by now, but a lot of people will use it to be annoying while the stream get's paid. Pretty quick way for me to never watch that streamer though, the big ass pop up notifications are bad enough.
 
Oct 28, 2017
1,549
I would be pissed too if someone abuses me to promote his shit. Actually, if someone would dare to try that shit move in my stream, i would announce that i use all donations that are incoming from now on to sue Burger King. If they want to book me for advertising, they have to pay more than <10 € / $. And they have to clarify this with me personally beforehand.
this isn't at all the same

this was a violation of FTC regulations, while Pokimane having a boyfriend is as far as I know scrupulously legal

Its not the same situation but the resulting drama and pearl clutching absolutely is.

If it's an FTC violation, whatever. Let the courts settle it.

But people pretending to be outraged that a brand would come in and ruin the sanctity of the "people paying a streamer for a vocaloid shout out" relationship is very rich. If the streamer has a voice to speech app hooked up to grift their audience into giving them money live on air, but aren't able to filter out messages that they wouldn't want on stream? Thats the streamer's fault entirely. If you don't want people (or even brands) "hijacking" your stream, then don't use something like this without some sort of curation method.

And I'm not sticking up for BK here. It's obnoxious and shitty. But if you are a streamer, and have an audience, you're a professional whether you like it or not. And have to leave the 'wild west internet' shit at the door, and run your shit right.
 
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Timeaisis

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,139
Austin, TX
I'm of two minds here. One is that BK shouldn't be using these streamers content without permission. That's shitty. The whole campaign is stupid and feels dishonest to me.

The second is, if you've got the "auto read donation messages on stream", well, they are taking advantage of that. Maybe turn that off if you don't want people to advertise with it.
 

Darkmaigle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,464
one of the scummier things ive seen HOWEVER hopefully other brands take notice and this is the last we ever hear of this type of nonsense
 

Teeth

Member
Nov 4, 2017
3,936
If Burger King were to approach this traditionally, they'd have to reach out to these streamers and compensate them much more heavily. Five dollars to reach potentially hundreds of thousands of viewers is absurd, especially without the consent of the channel.

Also, weirdly slimy move to see coming from of Ogilvy.

Channel sets up system to display a message for a client for a certain amount of payment. This is a primary or secondary source of income for the program to remain operational.

Am I describing a Twitch donation message or a television advertisement?

Auto-read donation messages are as much a complicit endorsement of the message as any other platform that hosts the messages of their users. If you don't agree with me, think about all of the ways that this "exploitation" could be prevented. The Twitch channels with auto-read messages have setup advertising platforms whether they like it or not.
 

Luckett_X

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,406
Leeds, UK
God forbid people look out for their livelihoods.
I'd be more worried what an edgelord teenager could have your auto readout donation bot say to deter your True Fans® than a harmless advert for Whoppers. Burger King doing twice the favor with some chump change AND a beta test of your message systems! Have it your way!
 

Forsaken82

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,924
If I recieved one of these advertised donations, I'd say thank you, go on twitter, and say "Thanks For the Donation @ BurgerKing , I got a delicious 4 for $5 from @ wendys with it." Perhaps after 1000 donations are publicly used on a competing chain, they'd end up stopping this type of marketing and move on to the next advertising scheme for people to complain about.

That being said, you can also apply that money towards a real donation of your own choose, a lesser streamer who could use the money more than you, but in no way do I think this is some illegal marketing scheme that they should be sued over.

I, who have no affiliation with Burger King can send you a donation for 5 dollars and say "Enjoy a nice Whopper on me!" and you would gladly accept it.
 

Dringus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,929
Seems smart to me, don't see a problem. The streamer could cancel/refund the donation and talk shit on the brand if they want.
 

Billfisto

Member
Oct 30, 2017
14,929
Canada
The marketing firm that sold BK on this idea must have made bank tho

Oh, hey, speaking of..

In 2019, the anti-corruption site The Sludge Report included Ogilvy's name on a list of contractors working for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency at the point where the agency was implementing the Trump administration family separation policy.[110] Subsequently, Buzzfeed published a transcript of an internal meeting in which employees challenged Ogilvy CEO John Seifert, with one employee saying: "We're willing to work with companies that have oil spills. We're willing to work with companies that sell big tobacco. We're willing to work with companies that contribute to obesity rates and I guess, what I'm mostly hearing is that we're willing to work with companies that are allowing children to die and that are running concentration camps." [111]

Bonus:

In 2014, Ogilvy India created "Bounce Back", a campaign for Indian mattress company Kurl-On that illustrated the stories of well-known figures who "bounced back" from adversity. The low point of each narrative arc showed the person rebounding off of a Kurl-On mattress. One of the ads featured Malala Yousafzai and depicted her being shot. The ad was criticized in the media, and Ogilvy & Mather issued a public apology to Yousafzai and her family.[107][108]
 

Valcrist

Tic-Tac-Toe Champion
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,692
Doesn't this violate FTC rules? It has to show somewhere that it's an ad. I wonder if streamers are going to have to block certain food related words.
 

Ikuu

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,294
I'm of two minds here. One is that BK shouldn't be using these streamers content without permission. That's shitty. The whole campaign is stupid and feels dishonest to me.

The second is, if you've got the "auto read donation messages on stream", well, they are taking advantage of that. Maybe turn that off if you don't want people to advertise with it.

"Hey streamer turn off one of the revenue streams so corporations can't exploit you"
 

Deleted member 18021

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,000
The TTS thing is for sure exploitable without proper settings, but this is a big ol' no-no from the ad agency all the same.
 

Billfisto

Member
Oct 30, 2017
14,929
Canada
Wait, are any of the games they're showing in that footage even real?

If they chose to associate the streamers with their brand against their will but weren't willing to rope in the games as well (going so far as to make up footage or use generic "game" stock footage rather than just pixelating it as they did with the streamers), I think that's pretty telling.
 

Deleted member 18021

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,000
Wait, are any of the games they're showing in that footage even real?

If they chose to associate the streamers with their brand against their will but weren't willing to rope in the games as well (going so far as to make up footage or use generic "game" stock footage rather than just pixelating it as they did with the streamers), I think that's pretty telling.

Nope.
 

VPplaya

Member
Nov 20, 2018
1,964
The major problem with this, as others have highlighted, is that it allows companies to essentially bypass the sponsorship contract and advertise on a twitch stream so long as they pay a tiny pittance of money (well below what they would shell out for a sponsorship)
 

plagiarize

Eating crackers
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
27,511
Cape Cod, MA
First of all, it's really scummy and probably should be illegal if it isn't already.

Second however, it's really obvious that the advert is referring to the twitch bot reading the message, and not claiming that they made a bot to go into people's twitch streams and make the donations. Pretty surprised that the streamer linked in the OP misunderstood that.
 

Sparks

Senior Games Artist
Verified
Dec 10, 2018
2,879
Los Angeles
Feels like we used to have 1-2 outrages a year, now if we go a week without an outrage, we are all like... what's going on, did I miss something?

First of all, it's really scummy and probably should be illegal if it isn't already.

Second however, it's really obvious that the advert is referring to the twitch bot reading the message, and not claiming that they made a bot to go into people's twitch streams and make the donations. Pretty surprised that the streamer linked in the OP misunderstood that.
Yeaaa, that read really weird.
 

Delusibeta

Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,648
But yeah, this is the sort of thing that I could get getting the streamer into legal issues, so I can see why they don't like it. The FTC historically takes a very dim view of undisclosed advertising such as this.
 

Zhadgon

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
536
As a twitch viewer I will be confused at first but then will take the hint and laugh at the situation, as a marketer and a person that works in advertising, the people that come with this idea are genius, really well put together, nice research and good use of resources, great "guerrilla marketing".

.n_n.
 

nampad

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,238
This was on Twitch. People getting outraged act like they did abuse something serious or messaged something inappropriate.
Smart and fun by BK, this outrage will make them reach even more.

Twitch streamers should get their auto reading bot straight if they want more control over how/or to whom they sell themselves.
 

Rellyrell28

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
28,896
This shit kinda reminds me of I can't remember which FGC tournament it was but Chris G and Fanatic when they were sponsored by AGE would plug their products during commentary so in response Spooky wouldn't display their sponsors when they would have matches on his stream.
 

OrangeNova

Member
Oct 30, 2017
12,632
Canada
This was on Twitch. People getting outraged act like they did abuse something serious or messaged something inappropriate.
Smart and fun by BK, this outrage will make them reach even more.

Twitch streamers should get their auto reading bot straight if they want more control over how/or to whom they sell themselves.
It is abuse of a system for people to just say things.

Most streamers have explicit no advertising in donations or chat... BK spend $50 for thousands of dollars of advertising. I'd be DMCA'ing every video that had my stream in it if it happened to me.
 

Iadien

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,370
If nothing else I can see Twitch stepping in to stop this if it continues, there's no way Twitch is okay with this happening, let alone the streamers. I don't think some people in here understand just how much streamers can make through sponsored shit.
 

Barrel_Roll

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 30, 2017
963
Why would anyone have a bot that reads comments of donations in their stream? That seems ripe for abuse. Idk much about twitch culture but that makes zero sense.

I never really understood it either. A steamer can set a minimum donation amount to trigger text to speech, but is $5.00 really worth a troll tricking the program into repeating racial slurs as nausuem?