Some consumer advocates worry that the above forms of weaving brands and products in the content of entertainment amounts to covert advertising, a form of advertising that works under the guise of non-advertising formats. The U.S.’s Children’s Advertising Review Unit expressed concern that sponsors were not appropriately disclosed in child influencer unboxing videos. A study testing the potential usefulness of disclosing sponsorship of those videos found that pre-roll warnings helped the parents be more aware of the sponsorship, and hopefully in turn more mindful about explaining these persuasion attempts to their children.

Whether it’s sponsored digital content, native advertising, product placement, or advergaming, the concern is that consumers do not recognize the persuasive nature of the ad, so they are being tricked. Do you agree?