Marketing companies are targeting children on YouTube with advertising disguised as other content, an « unfair and deceptive » business practice, three privacy groups said in a complaint to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

The companies, including Disney’s Maker Studios and DreamWorks’ AwesomenessTV, use popular « influencers » on YouTube to pitch products, aimed at children worldwide, with videos that « masquerade » as unsponsored content, said the complaint, filed Friday by the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), Public Citizen, and the Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood (CCFC). YouTube and corporate parent Google reap the benefits through advertising sold alongside the videos.

The marketing videos, often not labeled as advertising, include promotions for candy, « junk food, » and other products, with popular YouTube personalities, some of them kids themselves, playing games, unboxing boys, or sampling food, the groups said. 

« In many cases, these advertisements cause children to want unhealthy and costly products, » Laura Moy, a lawyer representing the groups, said in an email. With this marketing practice expanding, « it becomes increasingly urgent » for the FTC to say these tactics violate agency rules against deceptive and unfair business practices, said Moy, director at the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center.