Sweets producer Mars suspended advertising in YouTube

The sweets producer Mars suspended advertising in YouTube after one of its brands was advertised in rap video with violent content. The step was taken after an advertisement of Starbust candy was broadcast at the video of rap group Moscow17.

One member of the group, Siddique Kamara, known as Incognito and SK, was stabbed to death in southern London earlier this week.

Mars said it was "unacceptable" to see its brand along with similar content. According to media publications, the sweets producer's advertising campaign on the video sharing platform was worth 5 million GBP. The company did not confirm this, saying it did not intend to provide more information about its advertising budget.

In the video, including the Siddique Kamara at the time of the attack on Wednesday, the group says that it was "at war" with the police. The video, which has 40,000 views, is still available on the site, but no ads are available on it.

"It is unacceptable and disappointing to see one of our brands advertised with such video content. This is obviously a violation of our brand safety guidelines and Mars ads will never be re-broadcast along with similar content", said a spokeswoman of Mars. She adds that steps have been taken to remove all online ads on YouTube and that she works with Google and advertising agencies to find out how this happened. "While we lack the confidence that there are appropriate safeguards, we will not advertise anymore on YouTube", added the spokeswoman.

YouTube relies on algorithms to find inappropriate content on the site. It also encourages users to report video or behavior that violates the rules.

However, the largest video sharing site in the world continues to be the subject of continued criticism of its failure to remove dangerous content, including extremism.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://financeandmarkets.com/sweets-producer-mars-suspended-advertising-in-youtube/

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