However, Walmart, when reached for comment, claims this already took place. They’re asking CARU to audit Walmart’s games for compliance.

In addition to, the groups who signed the letter include Fairplay, the Center for Digital Democracy, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates. “We urge CARU to take swift action to protect the millions of children being manipulated by Walmart on a daily basis,” she added. “Walmart’s brazen use of stealth marketing directed at young children who are developmentally unable to recognize the promotional content is not only appalling, it’s deceptive and against truth-in-advertising laws,” said ’s legal director Laura Smith in a press release. Both games are also accessible to children of any ages as the “Age Guidelines” for the games on Roblox are labeled as “N/A.” The letter stresses that children under the age of 13 do not “fully understand the persuasive intent” of things like entertainment marketing. Similarly, the groups take issue with Walmart Land, another Roblox virtual world where kids can play as avatars and where Universe of Play is also marketed.īoth games combined have attracted more than 12 million visits since its launch, the letter states. The letter describes various aspects of the Walmart Roblox experience that the groups feel indicate its nature as an “advergame.” In addition, the groups note that Walmart is using CARU’s COPPA Safe Harbor Program seal to convey the message that the game is compliant with the organization’s guidelines. In the letter, the advocacy groups write to CARU’s senior vice president Dona Fraser to warn the organization about Walmart’s Roblox experience, Universe of Play, alleging that the virtual world targeted toward young children is deceptively marketing Walmart’s goods and services without providing proper disclosures that the game itself, and the content it contains, are actually ads. Simply put, being flagged as being potentially noncompliant with CARU’s program is not something a participant would want to happen, as it could put them on the FTC’s radar. That means participants who adhere to CARU’s guidelines are considered to be in compliance with COPPA, which protects them from any FTC enforcement action. In January 2001, CARU’s program became the first Federal Trade Commission (FTC)–approved Safe Harbor under the U.S.’s children’s online privacy law, COPPA. The groups, led by the ad watchdog (), sent a letter to the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), asking them to audit Walmart’s Roblox games.ĬARU is a part of the larger nonprofit BBB National Programs, which oversees a dozen industry self-regulation programs in the U.S. Walmart, however, disputes these allegations and says it’s in compliance with U.S. But the groups argue that Walmart is blurring the lines between advertising and organic content and doesn’t properly disclose that the content within these virtual worlds are essentially ads and should be labeled as such. The experiences allow Roblox users to play games featuring toys and popular kids’ characters, earn virtual toys that drop from a blimp, complete challenges, and explore “toy worlds,” among other things. The online retailer last fall announced the launch of two new virtual worlds on Roblox, Walmart Land and Universe of Play, aimed at engaging the next generation of shoppers. A number of consumer advocacy groups have a problem with Walmart’s entry into the metaverse.

Roadblocks game characters