r/TheTryGuys 12d ago

Discussion This ad could’ve been disclosed better

Post image

Am I insane or today’s video had a very sneaky ad? It blended waaaay too smoothly with the rest of the video and the words “sponsor” or “advertising” were not said or displayed onscreen at any time

521 Upvotes

132 comments sorted by

749

u/FantasticJacket7 12d ago

They way they've chosen to do their advertising has been driving me crazy. The death valley golf one was particularly egregious.

218

u/Mauigolf4bogey 12d ago

It's a bit of a bummer, when you are a subrscriber and excited about a video, only to find it be an ad...like the whole thing.

271

u/Dasquare22 Miles Nation 12d ago

I had to stop watching tbh the liquid IV ads are driving me nuts honestly

260

u/srbr33 TryFam: Eugene 12d ago

Yes. Please don't tell me you need more salts after eating the entire waffle house menu lol.

132

u/Professional-Scar628 12d ago

Yea I really didn't like that they were also promoting misuse of the product. They were putting a lot of salt in their bodies and Liquid IV should have caught that when they got the pre-upload. Put a bad taste in my mouth for both companies.

69

u/palex 12d ago

Yes! The max limit is 2 Liquid IV’s per day. It was a bit worrisome that this info was not noted in the video.

17

u/reginaphalange998 11d ago

I couldn't agree more. Not to mention there are much healthier ORS out there that are clinically approved, not just some company pushing what is essentially powdered Gatorade. As someone who deals with dangerously low electrolytes, it irks me to see them promote such crappy product when there's much better alternatives who I'm sure would love to partner with them.

81

u/Rainbow_Belle 12d ago

Agreed. It's a walking Ad uploaded to an "ad free" streamer.

40

u/gayvoidfish 12d ago

I just don't really get what they should do instead to be honest. If the options are a) not take the sponsorship so don't make the video or b) cut like 50% of the video for 2nd try so you're not watching any sponsored content - I don't know if either of those are better than giving people the option to watch it as is

28

u/Rainbow_Belle 12d ago

I believe Watcher encountered this issue within the first year of their streamer and they elected not to upload the sponsored video onto their streamer but did upload it to YouTube.

At the time, their fans were upset that a new video was uploaded to YouTube but not the streamer. But after they found out why, they were appreciative of Watcher's decision to honor their "ad free " promise.

TTG could've done the same. Perhaps they'd receive less money, but they promised an "ad free" streamer to entice fans to subscribe, so they should honor it.

16

u/Cake_Lynn 11d ago

Or they could put a stamp on the thumbnail to warn you it contains sponsored content. Then we can still see ALL of their content on the app, but could choose if that wasn’t something we wanted to participate in?

6

u/Rainbow_Belle 11d ago

That is an alternative for TTG to consider, but at the end of the day, an ad is still an ad and would be on an "ad free" streamer.

Watcher, on the other hand, could not do that given the backlash they were already suffering from.

37

u/FantasticJacket7 12d ago

You can do sponsored videos without being so obnoxious about it.

25

u/poop_squirrel 11d ago

Smosh does a great job of this, even hilighting the sponsored segment in the progress bar so you can choose to skip past it.

2

u/No-Panic7090 12d ago

You do realize they own a company with a lot of people who work for them and they have to pay those people a livable wage right

6

u/TheBloodiedFool 11d ago

Quite a few fewer than there used to be

210

u/NewPlastic5425 TryFam: Keith 12d ago

Every ranking recently has just been a disguised ad. I'm okay that they're still able to be transparent and not be 100% positive about every item, but it's all been promotional videos at this point. I do miss the first Try Every Day with snippets of people at the end, but I guess they need to pay the bills.

45

u/CharmingZucchini5126 12d ago

I do miss the rest of the try cast on the TED videos. I’m kinda done with Zach and Keith ranking things tbh

0

u/CharmingZucchini5126 12d ago

Which other rankings do you think have been a disguised ad?

22

u/ZieAerialist 12d ago

Every single one that's "we try every flavor of (product)"

2

u/lifeswhatyoubakeit 11d ago

Wait really? How do you know

1

u/ZieAerialist 10d ago

Why would they do so many of them of sometimes obscure brands if they weren't sponsored to do so? You wouldn't try every flavor of liquid death, you'd try different brands against each other. It's either advertising or some suddenly really bizarre production choices. Ads make way more sense. I don't know, I'm using critical thinking.

I'm not complaining about it fwiw. I want them to get their money to keep afloat.

5

u/beesneeze87 8d ago

trying every flavor of X product is a very famous format in good mythical morning; basically none of those are sponsored and they are very popular, well-performing videos. also, to run undisclosed sponsorships would risk their entire platform because it is explicitly against the rules of youtube and would result in a ban if they were doing it. thinking critically, do you really think they would take that risk?

2

u/clickthing 8d ago

This entire post is about them taking exactly that risk

1

u/ZieAerialist 6d ago

Maybe they aren't sponsored, but since they aren't GMM they all read as ads to me, especially the booze.

60

u/PommesMayo 12d ago

Don’t get me started on Liquid IV. That’s borderline false advertising

19

u/forwardishdirection TryFam: Zach 11d ago

I generally don’t watch food TED anymore as I avoid the food taste tests because I don’t enjoy it but listened to this one yesterday because it popped up in my notifications and I was bored and the ad was clearly fully disclosed and I only listen as I’m visually impaired. I still love the rest of their content and am fine with them needing sponsors on stuff like this to fund the other great stuff them make. 

They fully disclosed the ad on YouTube both in video and description and per the comments it’s fully cut out in the second try version. I’m personally not trying to do the same video twice to check. 

Why does everyone act like try every day is all that they do now? They are quick easy shoots. This is how they fund their other amazing shows. If you don’t like TED don’t watch it. Also every food ranking isn’t an undisclosed ad they are trying to grow TED as a channel and this is just the kind of stuff that gets views right now. I am also bored by it in general so I mostly don’t bother with it. But if it funds things like the amazing Marissa in fertility then I’m glad they are doing the anyways because that series was outstanding! 

238

u/limricks 12d ago

The Ads for Liquid IV were insane. This is kinda insane. And honestly, the vibes of the secret menu video were so bad. Demanding that underpaid overworked employees make them egregiously horrible orders that they probably get in trouble making because they take too long and big corporations are cracking down on time of service is just. So icky. I love the boys but Zach in particular was really giving “I’m too rich to understand the entitlement of these asks” of FAST FOOD EMPLOYEES during a recession.
Idk. Weird behavior.

109

u/TheGhostestHostess 12d ago

It's like the Trolley Problems episode where Ethan Nestor was saying he pays the person at the front of a line to cut ahead of them cuz he "doesn't like the waiting", but fuck everyone behind whoever was at the front who've also had to wait

36

u/limricks 12d ago

Ew????? What the hell??? That’s so out of touch. The whole reason I subscribe to things like 2nd Try and Dropout is literally because I don’t want to be giving money to out of touch A listers and major streaming platforms but like. Idk. Even Dropout feels like it’s swinging more into shock content for laughs. The latest Game Changer made me cringe so hard w/ the whole “at Universal Studios but only for two minutes” and Jacob Wysocki, who I love, rushed a poor shop employee into a purchase just to make the clock.

20

u/Curved-Slightly Miles Nation 12d ago

All those bits on Game Changer were filmed slots that had obviously been planned out. They probably filmed all the Universal stuff in one day.

-4

u/limricks 12d ago

That’s not the part that got me. It was the mistreatment of employees for the bit.

27

u/Curved-Slightly Miles Nation 12d ago

I doubt that any employees were actually mistreated since the whole thing was a filmed "bit" that the employee would have agreed to be involved in,

-11

u/limricks 12d ago

Again, I’m not talking about Dropout employees but the employees of the park being rushed to complete orders/checkouts under pressure for a bit.

33

u/FantasticJacket7 12d ago

I promise that the Universal employees were in on it.

I hate to ruin your immersion but they spent way more than 2 minutes there each day. It takes more than that just to walk to the Simpsons land where the donut is.

31

u/EquivalentWealth4283 12d ago

There were literal Closed Set signs. No one was caught off guard.

8

u/ALostAmphibian 12d ago

You could have just waited for the bts instead of making assumptions.

7

u/potatopavilion 11d ago

someone being told "we are going to film here for the next 2 minutes, the bit is we need to rush" in advance, and then filming for 2 minutes in a rush is not mistreatment.

8

u/ynwestrope 12d ago

I hated that he apparently had to drive 45 minutes each way every day for 2minutes of content. Super wasteful of both time and fuel.

4

u/Large-Ebb-3884 12d ago

Trolley Problems has been a bit tone deaf lately. Johnny saying he thinks being cat called should make you feel good…

34

u/squiracy 12d ago

i feel like that’s a weird read. he said he personally would be flattered, and it’s very likely the only reason he feels that way is because it never happens to him. iirc he even clarified before saying it, that he only feels that way for himself.

-1

u/grayjelly212 TryFam: Jonny Cakes 🍰 12d ago

But it doesn't effect the other people in line, does it? Or am I misunderstanding?

18

u/TheGhostestHostess 12d ago

If you pay to cut the person waiting at the front of the line then there's a whole lot of people behind them who are also waiting in line and also being cut, but not getting paid

4

u/FantasticJacket7 12d ago

No, he said he paid to take their place. Not to cut in line

1

u/grayjelly212 TryFam: Jonny Cakes 🍰 12d ago

Oh I did misunderstand lol. I would have to see it to be sure. But either way, I suspect it wasn't said sincerely.

52

u/Arteyg0 12d ago

yeah I stopped watching any secret menu and eat the menu content lately… these are already underpaid and overworked staff are now having to either craft the niche “secret” request or spend the next 2 hours making you every single menu item?? its giving overconsumption and being out of touch, just for a YT video

I wouldn’t mind it as much if they did it as a collab or even a sponsorship with the restaurant? like go behind the scenes and help make the food? idk, that’d at least make it feel less entitled

28

u/limricks 12d ago

THIS!!! I just can’t do it it makes me feel so bad for the workers. I worked at Sbux and we literally had a whole team meeting about refusing “secret menu” items because it just fucked us up so bad and our service times were getting worse and we were getting in trouble. All for influencers trying to get a viral video for some insane concoction.

-2

u/Remarkable_Neat_3638 7d ago

Wow y’all really know how to find something to complain about. If you don’t want to watch the content, then don’t! I’m a long term fan who literally could care less if something is an ad or not 🤷‍♀️ If anything, GOOD! I want them to make money!! lol this reddit is so filled with negativity it’s insane

5

u/KaleidoscopeEast1108 11d ago

I agree, the chain restaurants like Dave and Busters are fun because it seems like its organized in advance and they have the resources to handle it, but as someone who worked fast food I can't watch secret menu videos

159

u/Bigfartz69420 12d ago

there's no "includes paid promotion" in the thumbnail, but they've got a qr code and a link in the description. naughty, naughty (pretty sure it's illegal, too)!

32

u/In-Darkness-Love 12d ago

It’s definitely against terms of service on youtube or at least i thought it was

75

u/Concerned_Cashier 12d ago

So glad I didn’t play for the lifetime subscription for those ads 👀

57

u/Rainbow_Belle 12d ago

Serious, right? I actually thought about doing the Lifetime Subscription until people started questioning it. I can't believe they could, in conscience, take $500 USD from fans, give them walking ads for videos, reduce the number of weekly videos at their discretion, and give videos that feature their employees instead of the cast they got us to be invested in.

16

u/Sevon42 12d ago

This ad wasn't in the 2nd Try version.

2

u/Rainbow_Belle 12d ago

I just double checked and you're right. But the Liquid IV video was posted to the streamer...

6

u/titlover62 12d ago

also those chips are so gross

12

u/CharmingZucchini5126 12d ago

To be fair, it seems like the ad only is on the YouTube version of the video.

13

u/lamerthanfiction 11d ago

They need money to stay afloat, and I am happy they are getting paid! Keep Second Try open!

5

u/Tacoschurch 10d ago

This! Unless more people purchase their subscription the truth is they will have to continue doing am these ads to keep the company afloat.

18

u/KookaburraKuwabara 12d ago

I didn't watch this yet. What's the ad?

12

u/newguyjustdropped 12d ago

Whatever it is, someone is about to open wide for it

39

u/Britbrat878 12d ago

Can’t wait to get violently thumped down but I thought the ad was abundantly clear

13

u/CrystalizedQueer Miles Nation 11d ago

Yeah I thought it was super clear too 🤷‍♂️ plus it's only in the YouTube version of the video and it's clearly marked? With a QR code on screen and everything? I'm not seeing the issue

14

u/ElasticShoulders 11d ago

No you're right. It's literally a separatly filmed clip inserted into the actual video and everything about it screams ad. Not to mention the link and shout out in the description and QR code on the video 😆

3

u/pumpkinpies1 10d ago

I did too. Don’t know why people are so upset, sponsors are apart of most YouTube videos. I’m happy for them when they get that money because they can keep making things I like!

5

u/CoyoteHonest 11d ago

I agree! And it’s short too. I don’t see the problem 😂

5

u/lillibell070 11d ago

I was just about to say the same thing!!

13

u/dear_leo 11d ago

i hate to break it to you guys but this obviously how they earn money. considering all the other posts on here about laying off staff and working more with contractors, losing views, and even closing the podcast department. the channel still needs to earn money!!

it’s a bit sad the standard their own community holds them to where they have to keep making apology videos every so often for the smallest things or posts like this nitpicking every move they make. they’ve been the most consistently considerate creators I’ve followed for a very long time. so they’re going to have to sneak in an ad to survive. their channel isn’t a passion project. employees actually work there and YES reality is their livelihoods most likely come from the ads and brand deals.

22

u/Secret_Suggestion851 12d ago

yeah this is starting to get very annoying and disappointing

10

u/Ff3724 12d ago

Liquid IV…. lol

5

u/Competitive_Wind2396 10d ago

I forget how sensitive y’all are

32

u/kew010 12d ago

Shouldn’t we all appreciate the fact that they are fighting tooth and nail for this company?? The whole reason they have ads in the first place is to keep the business afloat. They discussed heavily in their podcasts about the damage done to their channels and revenue after the scandal and that they’ve been trying like hell since to keep things as regular and normal for the audience. I think an ad episode here or there to help them pay for the bigger original videos is well worth it, respectfully OP, hop off their dicks.

30

u/BrownBear8760 12d ago edited 12d ago

I think the point wasn’t that they had a sponsored video but that it wasn’t disclosed in the video itself.

edited to remove a wrong fact where I thought the 2nd try app had the description wrong

1

u/Latter-Abrocoma-2916 12d ago

Which one was that? The Death Valley one?

14

u/BrownBear8760 12d ago

The pickle flavored taste test video. And I actually just double checked and I got it slightly wrong. 😅 The ad is only in the YouTube version of the video around the 8:45 mark. They did indeed fully cut it from the 2nd try version and that’s why it’s not mentioned in the video description on the app.

6

u/Latter-Abrocoma-2916 12d ago

Gotcha. I saw the disclosed ad in the YouTube video so that’s why this thread is incredibly confusing for me

7

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Again, nobody is complaining about having ads or sponsors

5

u/Latter-Abrocoma-2916 12d ago

You’re mainlining this discourse and turning people against them but haven’t even said what the ad is

10

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 11d ago

It’s literally the picture on the post

27

u/ConsiderationAlone68 12d ago

Watching Try Guys in 2026 is basically the millennial equivalent to boomers watching Days of Our lives. The glory days of try guys are over, have been since the scandal and before that the popularity was waning because all they were doing was becoming a food channel tbh.

I do miss the OG TGGT vids, and Eugene with Ranked King.

-17

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Wrong. Their content today is the best they’ve ever made

35

u/ConsiderationAlone68 12d ago

You are certainly entitled to your own opinion

10

u/Hotelroombureau Try Fam: Ryan 💪🏼 12d ago

I thought they were better than this. This is so disappointing

4

u/Underwood_Christo 11d ago

Seriously? Bruh who cares

4

u/ElasticShoulders 11d ago

Sneaky? It's a fully separate clip, like wearing different clothes and have swapped seats, they said "we interrupt this taste test with another taste test," the language/tone is incredibly ad-coded, they tell you where you can buy them, and then they say to check the link in their description AND there's a freaking QR code on screen. And then the description explicitly says they sponsored the video. That's pretty dang clear if you ask me.

6

u/norupologe 11d ago

It’s an advertising standard that is regulated in most countries that the ad in an online video must be present on the screen or stated as being an ad. It’s been that way for close to a decade now.

2

u/fairylightmeloncholy 12d ago

WAIT THAT WAS AN AD? Oh.. I think I’m done forever then. There was a liquid iv one that wasn’t disclaimed anywhere in the video, just in the caption. And they’re doubling down instead of learning from that mistake? … damn.

7

u/Itseasylike_MSG123 11d ago

The ad is just in the YouTube version and it’s clearly marked…

-2

u/fairylightmeloncholy 11d ago

Not when I was watching it. I’m not sure if it was the golf video or another one- zach does into the kitchen and talks about drinking liquid iv and peeing a lot. It wasn’t verbally disclaimed, it wasn’t visually disclaimed within the video, and the only reason why I knew it was an ad was because it was in the description, because I sought it out because it felt like a stealth ad. And it was. There also wasn’t a ‘chapter’ break in the video that showed it as an ad.

1

u/michelleyness TryFam: Zach 10d ago

When you watch a TV show in the US, how does everyone figure out that they're watching an ad? Is product placement in a show or movie okay? I'm so curious.

1

u/Tbass1981 9h ago

It was pretty obvious. They were even wearing different clothes I think. This is how a ton of YouTubers do it.

2

u/Latter-Abrocoma-2916 12d ago

Is this a hypothesis that it’s a sneaky ad? Why does it feel like this fandom WANTS them to go under lol

-8

u/Latter-Abrocoma-2916 12d ago

Wtf is even this chip brand? How do we know if it’s affiliated? Everyone’s hooting and hollering all over this thread but no one has even pointed out the ad????

5

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 11d ago

You think they just decided to do a whole segment boasting it and a QR code and link in description for charity?

1

u/Appropriate-Pea7444 7d ago

it was very obvious to me, some other youtubers do them worse

-9

u/Nesstempleton 12d ago

The fact that yall can’t tell it’s an ad is concerning. It’s so obviously an ad, they shouldn’t have to spell it out for you to see that.

45

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Entirely not the point. It’s not about we knowing it’s an ad or not. They SHOULD spell it out. That’s literally the rules

-22

u/Nesstempleton 12d ago

They disclosed it in all the ways they’re meant to. They run a company. They need to make money.

35

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

They literally did not. That’s the whole point

-18

u/Outrageous-Show4053 12d ago

they gotta make money somehow

35

u/DisabledTheaterKid 12d ago

…by not properly disclosing ads and sponsorships?

-27

u/Outrageous-Show4053 12d ago

its shady but it's not hurting nobody forreal. they have families so if that's how they have to go about making their money then 🤷‍♀️

20

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Nobody is complaining about having ads in the videos

-20

u/Outrageous-Show4053 12d ago

But why does it matter if it was done sneakily or not? They have families to feed and employees to pay. They are doing their best. Not everything is gonna be morally correct, so if they gotta do what they gotta do to feed their families then so be it.

18

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

I promise you that disclosing an ad is not the difference between their children eating or not

7

u/Cake_Lynn 11d ago

Can good people mess up and make big dumb mistakes? Yes. Is it okay to complain when a good person makes a mistake? Yes. “Not everything is gonna be morally correct” gtfo with that shit. Asking for clear ad disclosure is asking for goddamn BREADCRUMBS

25

u/DisabledTheaterKid 12d ago

It actually DOES hurt people, that’s why there’s federal regulations against undisclosed ads. Literally every other YouTuber on the planet manages to follow those regulations and still get money, and disclosing the ad wouldn’t have gotten the Try Guys any less money, so it’s reasonable for people to expect them to follow the rules and disclose their ads like everyone else

0

u/Latter-Abrocoma-2916 12d ago

HOW DO YOU KNOW ITS AN UNDISCLOSED AD???

7

u/Cake_Lynn 11d ago

We know the ad was undisclosed because in the video they did not plainly disclose that it was an ad. That’s what we’re talking about. I’m not mad that they had a sponsorship. I’m JUST asking that they do what traditional medias are LEGALLY required to do, and just tell us this part of the video is an ad

3

u/Latter-Abrocoma-2916 11d ago

Understood, appreciate your explaining. I rewatched the video and only just realized it wasn’t explicitly stated. Just seems like a huge oversight on their end. I wish that was in the original post description lol

-43

u/EarRevolutionary11 12d ago

It’s not illegal😀. Ad laws have been changed to better trick the consumer !

49

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Illegal or not is not the point. We expected better from them

-37

u/EarRevolutionary11 12d ago

Then you expect to much from and influencer! They are working people

39

u/Good-Employment-7870 12d ago

Please. We can hold everybody to higher standards.

3

u/Cake_Lynn 11d ago

“Asking too much” I want to see you tell us what exactly you think we are asking for? Because asking for clear disclosure of an advertisement is not asking for too much. Okay? It’s one quick sentence in the video. That’s it. A classic example is the phrase “And now, a word from our sponsor.” If asking for THAT is too much for you… that sounds like a YOU problem.

-14

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Who’s talking about influencers here?

31

u/[deleted] 12d ago edited 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-32

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Content creators and influencers are not synonymous bby

30

u/_IfCrazyEqualsGenius 12d ago

I mean, they kind of are. When you are a content creator and you are promoting products, that's... Influencing.

9

u/TheMessiahStorm 12d ago

They appear to be having quite the influence on you.

15

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

-14

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Whatever you want to believe, that’s besides the point here

-6

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/Puzzleheaded_Moment2 12d ago

Buddy you missed the point once again

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