What it had to solve
Ogilvy pitched the campaign as a low-cost way to reach gamers on Twitch for Burger King.
The idea
Use the cheapest slot in streaming, a $5 donation read aloud by a text-to-voice tool, as a way to place Burger King ads on live channels.
How it works
A 'THE_KING_OF_STREAM' account made donations to streamers' channels whose messages were ads, for example telling the streamer they could spend $5 on a combined meal on the app. The posts were not labeled as ads or presented by Twitch as a sponsor.
What it did
Streamers who received the ads objected publicly, and Ars Technica asked whether the unlabeled posts could breach FTC influencer guidance; the FTC declined to comment. Twitch said it was not involved in the promotion.
Background
In August 2020, the agency Ogilvy published a video bragging about a campaign concept: it would invade gaming-filled Twitch chat rooms and post ads for a brand for cheap. It turned out to be real, run on behalf of Burger King.
The campaign used the Twitch habit of donating to hosts, where a text-to-voice tool reads the donor's message aloud. Ogilvy's ads were attached to specific dollar amounts. Streamer Ross 'RubberNinja' O'Donovan described one that said he could spend $5 and get a meal on the app, and when he mocked American fast food, the King account donated another $5 with a joke back, which suggested a person was curating it. Streamers said ad deals are a crucial part of their income and that viewers advertising in their streams is against their rules; Ars Technica noted the posts carried no '#ad' label.
Why it lands
The format relied on streamers reacting live to messages instead of screening them, so the ad reached the audience before the host could object.
No label marked the donations as ads, which is what raised the possible FTC influencer-guidance question.
Streamers pointed out that they are paid far more than $5 for sponsored content, so the placement undercut their own income.
What you can take
A cheap placement that skips the people whose audience it borrows turns the ad's own bragging video into the evidence against it.
Since then
Ars Technica reports that the FTC would not comment on particular companies outside law enforcement actions, and that Twitch said it was not involved with the Burger King promotion. The article records no result for the brand.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE