Domino’s reprimanded for ‘unhealthy’ Minecraft YouTube advert

Pizza chain Domino’s has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for selling an unhealthy product in a Minecraft video.

The UK branch of the company, which has its head office in Milton Keynes, paid for a promotion of Cadbury Creme Egg cookies during a YouTube video featuring the popular video game.

The fast food firm argued that only 21% of people who watched Minecraft content were under 15 and the YouTube channel was not exclusively for children.

But ASA ruled that the video could appeal to children and that a product high in fat, salt or sugar should not have been included.

Milo and Chip is a YouTube channel featuring two brothers who play Minecraft together.

The advert appeared in a video entitled “Minecraft’s Largest TNT Explosion”, which racked up more than 11 million views, making it their fourth most popular upload.

Minecraft, which released in 2009, remains popular with YouTube content creators of various ages.

Domino’s claimed some of the content on the Milo and Chip page was made for older viewers and had video titles that referenced “killing”, “death” and “stalking”.

It argued that Minecraft had an ageing audience and claimed the recent movie adaptation, which was rated PG by the BBFC, featured adult humour and marketing targeted at adults.

However, the ASA explained that the video showed two characters using TNT to create large explosions, which it thought would appeal to children.

It pointed out that one of the characters, Milo, spoke in a child-like voice and brightly coloured bubble writing appeared on screen.

It concluded: “We told Dominos UK & Ireland Ltd t/a Domino’s to ensure their ads were appropriately targeted and that ads that were unsuitable for viewing by children did not appear in media that was likely to appeal to children.”

In a statement, Domino’s said: The advertisement was restricted to signed-in YouTube users aged 18 and over and was excluded from all ‘Made for Kids’ channels.

“We also ensured full compliance with YouTube’s HFSS product advertising policies.

“At Domino’s, we go to great lengths to ensure our advertising complies not only with the CAP Code but also with our own, more stringent, Responsible Marketing Policy, which explicitly prohibits targeting anyone under the age of 18.

“We take this responsibility seriously and apply both the letter and the spirit of the rules in all our campaigns.”