UPDATE 7 (final?) (via Polygon)
UPDATE 6 So the Machinima show Inside Gaming weighs in on this ... and they gloss over the issues and point to the EA story. Is anyone falling for this?
UPDATE 5: CBOAT HATH SPOKEN
UPDATE 4 (via Game Informer)
UPDATE 3 (via Ohhword)
UPDATE 2 (via IGN)
Ars is reporting on this
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/01/stealth-marketing-microsoft-paying-youtubers-for-xbox-one-mentions/
UPDATE: Why I leaked the XB1M13 agreement
The Machinima UK dude has deleted his twitter account, someone else snatched it immediately
more confirmation this happened
additionally Northernlion confirmed on reddit that Machinima usually allows or requires FULL DISCLOSURE
additional sites reporting,
Polygon
Kotaku
Joystiq (who completely misses the point)
PC World
LA Business Journal
CinemaBlend
Yahoo
Destructoid
The Verge
Gamespot
GameTrailers
Forbes (contributor)
Media Minions (German)
IGN (had to wait for AU to wake up to report on this? c'mon now)
Metro
Eurogamer
Gizmodo UK
Spiegel (German)
Gamer.no (Norwegian)
Slashdot
Paul Thurrott
The Guardian
CNET
Wired UK
Escapist
Huffington Post
Game Informer
Wall Street Journal
Techdirt
Reddit thread from a Machinima partner
The Final Bosman: Xbox Friends with Benefits (starting 2:20)
Youtubers condemning/discussing
Boogie2988, video 2
AlphaOmegaSin
FarFromSubtle
TotalBiscuit
Nerd Alert
Address the Sess (with ReconXBL, TotalBiscuit, Jason Schreier, and more)
for clarity, here is the original NeoGAF thread
Aquamarine does the detective work on who participated in this campaign
timeline by serversurfer
and some fine reading if you've got the time: PR And The Game Media: How PR Shapes What You Think About Games
"The guides are guidance to help advertisers and endorsers comply with federal advertising law," said Betsy Lordan, with the FTC Office of Public Affairs. "They are not legally enforceable, and there are no monetary penalties or penalties of any kind associated with them."
The FTC isn't conducting any research into the use of their guidelines for endorsements, Lordan said. She declined to say if the FTC had any active investigations into game publishers over breach of the federal advertising law. Under FTC rules, the commission does not confirm investigations until they are complete and then, only if there are wrongdoings found.
UPDATE 6 So the Machinima show Inside Gaming weighs in on this ... and they gloss over the issues and point to the EA story. Is anyone falling for this?
UPDATE 5: CBOAT HATH SPOKEN
al contaracts are veted by legal tho. Usualy multipel timse.
UPDATE 4 (via Game Informer)
"Microsoft was not aware of individual contracts Machinima had with their content providers as part of this promotion and we didn’t provide feedback on any of the videos," a Microsoft representative told us via email. "We have asked Machinima to not post any additional Xbox One content as part of this media buy and we have asked them to add disclaimers to the videos that were part of this program indicating they were part of paid advertising.”
UPDATE 3 (via Ohhword)
We execute large network wide activations routinely and, where part of a promotional campaign, typically require channel partners to include certain language in their video content relating to the promotion. That didn’t happen here and we’re evaluating why. All participants are being asked today to include our standard language going-forward. We apologize for the error and any confusion.
UPDATE 2 (via IGN)
Update: Regarding Microsoft's involvement in its YouTube promotion, Machinima told IGN, "This partnership between Machinima and Microsoft was a typical marketing partnership to promote Xbox One in December. The Xbox team does not review any specific content or provide feedback on content. Any confidentiality provisions, terms or other guidelines are standard documents provided by Machinima. For clarity, confidentiality relates to the agreements themselves, not the existence of the promotion."
Ars is reporting on this
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/01/stealth-marketing-microsoft-paying-youtubers-for-xbox-one-mentions/
This weekend, word started leaking of a new promotion offering Machinima video partners an additional $3 CPM (i.e., $3 per thousand video views) for posting videos featuring Xbox One content. The promotion was advertised by Machinima's UK community manager in a since-deleted tweet, and it also appears on Machinima's activity feed on Poptent, a clearinghouse for these kind of video marketing campaigns. The Poptent page also mentions an earlier campaign surrounding the Xbox One's launch in November, which offered an additional $1 CPM for videos "promoting the Xbox One and its release games."
According to a leaked copy of the full legal agreement behind the promotion, video creators "may not say anything negative or disparaging about Machinima, Xbox One, or any of its Games" and must keep the details of the promotional agreement confidential in order to qualify for payment. In other words, to get the money, video makers have to speak positively (or at least neutrally) about the Xbox One, and they can't say they're being paid to do so.
The arrangement as described might go against the FTC's guidelines for the use of endorsements in advertising, which demand full disclosure when there is "a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement."
UPDATE: Why I leaked the XB1M13 agreement
The Machinima UK dude has deleted his twitter account, someone else snatched it immediately
more confirmation this happened
additionally Northernlion confirmed on reddit that Machinima usually allows or requires FULL DISCLOSURE
additional sites reporting,
Polygon
Kotaku
Joystiq (who completely misses the point)
PC World
LA Business Journal
CinemaBlend
Yahoo
Destructoid
The Verge
Gamespot
GameTrailers
Forbes (contributor)
Media Minions (German)
IGN (had to wait for AU to wake up to report on this? c'mon now)
Metro
Eurogamer
Gizmodo UK
Spiegel (German)
Gamer.no (Norwegian)
Slashdot
Paul Thurrott
The Guardian
CNET
Wired UK
Escapist
Huffington Post
Game Informer
Wall Street Journal
Techdirt
Reddit thread from a Machinima partner
The Final Bosman: Xbox Friends with Benefits (starting 2:20)
Youtubers condemning/discussing
Boogie2988, video 2
AlphaOmegaSin
FarFromSubtle
TotalBiscuit
Nerd Alert
Address the Sess (with ReconXBL, TotalBiscuit, Jason Schreier, and more)
for clarity, here is the original NeoGAF thread
Aquamarine does the detective work on who participated in this campaign
timeline by serversurfer
The timeline as we know it:
1. Machinima broker promos wherein the agreement states tubers must disclose they received promotional consideration, in compliance with FTC regulations.
2. Machinima broker a promo for MS wherein the agreement seems to indicate tubers must not disclose they received promotional consideration, in violation of FTC regulations.
3. Tubers create promos without disclosing they received promotional consideration, in violation of FTC regulations.
4. Machinima broadcast the promos created without disclosing they received promotional consideration, in violation of FTC regulations.
5. Machinima claim that despite the agreement's apparent admonition to deceive, the tubers' explicit deception, and Machinima's explicit deception, no deception was intended and we just didn't understand the agreement.
6. Machinima further clarify that despite the fact that everything was legit until MS showed up, MS had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with this, especially the changes made to the disclosure stipulation, since no changes to the disclosure stipulation were ever made.
7. Machinima further clarify that okay, yes, changes were made to the disclosure stipulation, but it was an accident and they don't know what happened.
and some fine reading if you've got the time: PR And The Game Media: How PR Shapes What You Think About Games