"Drop into Żabka while the Wojanki are still available," "Everyone has already bought because I saw some people buying 10 Wojanki at once," "Drop into Palion Style, order while it's available because it sells like hot buns, and school is coming soon" – these were the words the YouTubers were supposed to use during their online streams, where they show themselves playing games, most of which are Minecraft. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) notes that these actions are monitored by minors. Children are protected by special rules even in advertising, so encouraging them to buy or making them persuade others to buy specific products is prohibited.
"Advertising targeted at children is subject to special restrictions. The protection of the youngest from aggressive marketing messages is ensured by both national and EU regulations, including the Act on the Prevention of Unfair Market Practices and the Act on Radio and Television. These prohibit, among other things, direct calls for children to buy products or encouraging them to persuade adults to do so. The UOKiK President monitors the social media market for aggressive advertising practices aimed at children and has filed the first accusations against influencers," we read in the UOKiK statement.
Did they break the law during online streams?
Two YouTubers, whose identities were not disclosed, allegedly engaged in prohibited behavior during online streams. UOKiK informs that both run channels on YouTube and TikTok focused on gaming, especially the previously mentioned Minecraft.
"Children cannot be subjected to purchasing pressure through aggressive advertising. Meanwhile, the influencers I have accused are promoting their businesses via social media content based on popular children's computer games.
They switch from narrating gameplay to encouraging the purchase of backpacks, drinks, or T‑shirts. The advertising message is woven into entertaining content. Children must be protected from such actions," says UOKiK President Tomasz Chróstny.
They were supposed to promote various products such as drinks, clothing, backpacks, or comics during streams on channels like: "WojanGames", "WojanPlus", "wojanteam_pl" and "Palion Games" and "Palion Games Plus".
UOKiK notes that influencers were supposed to smoothly transition from game topics to the products they promoted.
"In many cases, product promotion is the main theme of the publication. Influencers smoothly transition from commenting on gameplay to presenting products, without changing the narrative style. Sometimes entrepreneurs completely blur the line between entertainment and advertising content. An example is the storyline they create in Minecraft, such as building a virtual Żabka store or another retail chain – with available assortment of Wojanek or Palion drinks," UOKiK emphasizes.
Penalties in the millions of zlotys?
If the allegations against the YouTubers are confirmed, they will be heavily fined. The penalty that UOKiK can impose is 10% of annual turnover (likely calculated in millions of zlotys for the two influencers). Additionally, the person managing Wojan Group may be fined up to 2 million zlotys.
UOKiK notes that influencers directly address children in their posts, using language appealing to them, rhymes, and colorful animations. They claim that other children have already bought, sometimes "dozens of pieces" of a product, appealing to peer acceptance. They apply time pressure, threatening that the product "will disappear and never return," and emphasize that the items "bring happiness" or are "magical."
The Office also provides several examples that support the allegations. We present them below (original spelling):
"Want to return to school like sigma. Drop into Wojan Shop. We added a new school collection."
"Drop into Żabka while the Wojanki are still available."
"Be careful because the number of sets is limited, and if it disappears it won't return. Check Wojan Shop."
"Many Wojan warriors have already decided to purchase this set and even posted their reviews."
"The number of T‑shirts is heavily limited, so hurry if you want to get yours."
"Do you have such a box? Over 500 people already have one, and you don't? I warmly invite you, drop in, because school is coming soon."
"Here is a T‑shirt on pre‑sale, I have it on myself – a Palion T‑shirt and this T‑shirt is only and exclusively for the occasion of the song. That's why it's limited, there are very few pieces, very few pieces. They really sell out quickly."
"Drop into Palion Style, order while it's available because it sells like hot buns, and school is coming soon."
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