When it comes to Twitch ads, streamers are fairly united in the belief that current implementations are bad. Whether it’s pre-rolls, unskippable 30-seconds, or just intrusive experiences that discourage people from exploring new channels. That’s further exacerbated by low payouts (my ad payout for the last 30 days is $1.21). But, a scummy Burger King ad has managed to draw the ire of nearly everyone. Several media outlets have even picked this story up. But, while outrage is in ample supply – I think this experience offers value for streamers as the platform continues to go mainstream.
If you haven’t seen it yet, the ad features real streamer reactions to being donated $3-$5 from Burger King. Their faces are blurred, voices distorted, and the gameplay is fake.
What This Burger King Ad Is, and What it Isn’t
This ad is not what everyone thinks it is. This is NOT a TV ad. It’s not going to be a digital ad. It’s a proof of concept to demonstrate how creative and clever their agency is. Instead of selling Burger King, this is about selling David Madrid.
It was originally released back in early July, and got no attention from the streamer community. Now that the entire streamer community is talking about it – it’s getting HUGE value for David Madrid. A campaign that cost $50 in tips to streamers, and a quick one-day edit has now generated over 1M video videos and likely millions more impressions. That’s a HUGE win for the agency.
Why this is Good for Streamers
While the short term grossness of this ad will soon be forgotten, the long outlook is good for streamers! As Twitch’s reach and mainstream appeal continue to expand, the marketing dollars follow closely behind it. Right now, the majority of brands that work with streamers are one’s that align in the space perfectly… tech brands, gaming companies, energy drinks, etc. And that’s great for the TOP streamers that get the majority of those opportunities. But the majority of streamers are left with weak deals with brands no one has ever heard of.
As non-endemic brands (ones who aren’t directly linked with the market) start to come to the platform, opportunities for streamers of ALL SIZES will benefit. As mentioned in my tweet the other day, if you have over 5 viewers, you’re in the top 8% of streamers – that means you have value to marketers.
A Call to Action for Streamers: Talk More!
Back when influencer marketing first started, most content creators did NOT talk about money with other creators. That was the wrong move to do, and it meant that a lot of people were doing sponsored deals for LESS than they were worth. Often times, creators with larger audiences were getting paid half as much as other creators – and they had no idea!
The streaming community is different in many ways – but particularly, I think it’s more open about things. So, this is a call to action to fellow streamers: TALK about brand deals! Share information with each other. Be open with other streamers about how much you made from a deal because it will help us ALL make more money. Keeping things private plays into the hands of the marketing and PR people who have a duty to their clients to pay less and get more. If we all raise the bar, we’re all going to get more. The alternative is a lot more scummy Burger King style sponsor deals.
It’s something I would love to help document as well – so you may see me develop a kind of ‘campaign tracker’ that would anonymously allow people to report the money they made from campaigns and compare that to their viewership data.
Burger King and David Madrid are likely celebrating the huge success of their discount scummy ad right now… but let it inspire us to all work together and make sure that as those non-endemic brands come to us with money, we all get what we’re worth!
