From vernacularized commercialism to kidbait: toy review videos on YouTube and the problematics of the mash-up genre

Figures & data

Table 1. Averages of the review channels under study (N = 35).

	Total on average	Per video on average
Subscribers	2,409,410	4515
Views	2,419,066,089	3,606,394
Likes	3,391,412	5472
Dislikes	650,415	1279

Table 2. The major activity categories of the toy review videos.

Activity category	Description	Emic term
Opening packages	Unpacking and assembling new toys	Unboxing
Preparing surprises	Creating suspense by setting up a scene where something unforeseen unfolds	Giant egg surprises, blind bag surprises, science home experiments
Exposing collections	Showing collectibles such as toys, merchandise material, DVDs etc.	Collector’s videos
Playing video games	Showing an entire play act on screen	Let’s play’s, play-throughs
Playing in physical environments	Spending time in and/or testing environments designed for play such as private or public playrooms, playgrounds, amusement parks etc.	Pretend plays, toy hunts, toy play reviews, location reviews
Showing how to do something	Making something by oneself and showing the making of it	DIY’s, how-to’s, tutorials
Parodizing	Making sketches or humorous stories with or about toys	Toy parodies, parodies with the specific brand name (such as Cars or Lightning McQueen parodies)
Vlogging	Talking about topics in front of the camera, showing occurrences and events	Vlogs, hauls, my days
Challenging and competing	In- or inter-video campaigns to compete in something	Challenges
Transformations	Applying makeup or trying out costumes	Makeovers