MrBeast Failed to Disclose Ads and Improperly Collected Children’s Data, Watchdog Group Says

MrBeast, the world's most popular YouTuber with more than 430 million subscribers, has updated some of his channel's advertising practices after a watchdog group accused him of violating industry guidelines on child safety and data collection. The group, the Children's Advertising Review Unit, or CARU, found that MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, had collected children’s personal information without age-gating or parental consent, failed to disclose advertorial content, and made misleading product claims. Donaldson and his team have since updated their practices to more explicitly identify promotional content, and plan to update their website and data collection practices, according to the CARU report reviewed by ADWEEK. CARU is a self-regulatory body within the nonprofit BBB National Programs that aims to guard minors from inappropriate or deceptive advertising according to industry standards. Founded in 1974, it monitors advertising practices and pressures companies to comply with regulations including the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and other Federal Trade Commission rules. Companies CARU finds in violation that don't then comply with its recommendations are often referred by the watchdog to the FTC. The group's investigation found that a Halloween 2024 sweepstakes run by Donaldson’s chocolate brand Feastables, open to people 13 and up, collected personal data—including full names and email addresses—without the kinds of consent mechanisms generally required under U.S. law. COPPA mandates verifiable parental consent for child-directed sites and bars collecting more information from users under 13 than is necessary. CARU concluded that the Feastables site and promotions strongly appealed to children, making it likely underage users’ data was exposed. “MrBeast's team knew that it was very likely that children would be attracted to this contest,” said Rukiya Bonner, CARU’s director. The group determines “child-directed” status based on design elements and other factors outlined in COPPA and some Federal Trade Commission enforcements. Because the sweepstakes and website targeted kids, protections should have been in place—but weren’t, CARU found. “One of the rules was that minors can enter with parental consent, but the parental consent was not obtained before collecting personal information,” Bonner said. “There should have been an age gate…before collecting [data] to ensure that the users were 13 or over.” In a joint statement, MrBeast and Feastables said that while they “[appreciate] CARU’s mission to promote responsible children's advertising,” they reject some of the group’s conclusions as well as “the premises on which they were based.” They added that “a variety of the issues raised by CARU relate to practices long since revised and/or discontinued,” but noted that the company would “take CARU's concerns under advisement as it develops future advertisements which appear in children's media.” Ads targeted to children In its report, CARU found two Feastables sweepstakes misleading and failed to adequately disclose details like odds of winning and the option to enter for free. The sweepstakes also encouraged kids to buy multiple chocolate bars, then added pressure with countdown clocks, the watchdog said. These tactics promoted “the overconsumption of Feastables chocolate bars…and [used] sales pressure to create a sense of urgency to enter the sweepstakes.” The group said it found both of these sweepstakes, the Halloween $10K Daily Sweepstakes and the Blue Wave $10K Daily Sweepstakes, to be in violation of COPPA. The Feastables website also “likely violated COPPA,” according to CARU, “by failing to implement a neutral and effective age gate prior to the collection of personally identifiable information from children.” The site gathered children’s personal information and allowed third parties to collect browsing data from users for advertising purposes, against rules that require child-directed site receive verifiable parental consent before allowing this kind of data harvesting, CARU said. The group also found the Feastables website had solicited users' email addresses and phone numbers that it shared with third parties, and stored device geolocations into a cloud server, violating some rules. MrBeast disputed CARU’s characterization of the Feastables website and that some of his promotions as directed toward children, according to the report, but agreed to update his practices in accordance with the group’s recommendations. Donaldson has previously acknowledged that he knows many of his viewers are children. In a 2017 appearance on the Hot Wet Soup podcast, he said of his YouTube audience: “...it says, like, 18 to 24, but I know all my fucking viewers are little kids….You know, little kids lie about their age…I have, like, a fucking massive [spike] for, like, the 40 year-old range because all the fucking idiots are on their parents’ account.” In its investigation, CARU also identified what it classifies as misleading product claims. In one video, MrBeast conducted a "blind taste test" that claimed to show people impartially comparing Feastables with other chocolate brands. But the video compared different varieties of chocolate—Feastables’ milk chocolate against another brand’s dark chocolate—and included biased commentary from MrBeast. The videos contained claims that could mislead children, CARU said. “Advertisers should…recognize that younger children have a limited capacity to evaluate the credibility of information, may not understand the persuasive intent of advertising, and may not even understand that they are viewing or hearing advertising,” it wrote in its report, adding: “The mere appearance of a celebrity, influencer, or authority figure with a product or service can significantly alter children’s perception of the product or service.” The “blind taste test” video was removed from MrBeast’s YouTube page in September 2024. Some other content on the influencer’s channel also failed to clearly communicate that they were promotional in nature, CARU said. In a handful of instances, text descriptions and pinned comments on videos—some of which included directives and calls to action—blurred the line between entertainment and advertising. Because the content was not clearly labeled as advertorial, children may not have recognized when they were being marketed to. “Our findings…reinforce the already existing principles of responsible advertising to children, and they serve as a reminder for all content creators and all brands that if their content appeals to children, they have a special responsibility to clearly disclose ads, to avoid misleading claims and to protect children's privacy,” CARU’s Bonner told ADWEEK.

Creator Economy

MrBeast Failed to Disclose Ads and Improperly Collected Children’s Data, Watchdog Group Says

The popular YouTuber has agreed to modify data collection practices to conform with child safety laws and industry guidelines

Kendra Barnett

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