It’s Ryan’s world, and we’re all just living in it.
At least, that’s how I imagine most other YouTubers see Ryan Kaji of the channel Ryan’s World.
The now-12-year-old boy began his YouTube career when he was 4 years old. Managed full-time by his mother, Loann Kaji, the channel’s first video was relatively simple, featuring Ryan picking out and taking a toy home from the store to build and play with. The channel, then called Ryan ToysReview, exploded in popularity not long after as Ryan played with and reviewed more toys, and it currently sits at over 37 million subscribers.
Between 2018 and 2020, Forbes revealed that Ryan’s World held the title as the highest-grossing channel each year, earning a cumulative $77.5 million dollars. And though his YouTube throne would be usurped by MrBeast in 2021, that hasn’t stopped the channel’s dominance in the genre of YouTube reviews.
Nowadays, however, you’ll have to scroll far to find Ryan’s World videos purely focused on reviewing toys. That’s because the channel chose to pivot its content to include skits, science experiments, obstacle courses and more (changes which coincided with the channel’s name update). Videos typically include Ryan’s family: his father, mother and two younger sisters.
On Aug. 16, 2024, Ryan’s World released a film titled Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure, which features the content creator, his family and more.
According to Loann, the channel began because of Ryan’s desire to be a content creator and his parents’ desire to support him. Based on that information, Ryan seems to enjoy filming videos and isn’t being forced to do so.
Families may enjoy watching and emulating some of the science experiments present on the channel.
According to the channel’s “about” page, most of the toys Ryan opens are donated to charity.
Truth In Advertising (TINA), a watchdog organization concerned with deceptive marketing practices, filed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 regarding the channel’s toy reviews, alleging that the channel failed to adequately disclose sponsored reviews and segments. In its complaint, TINA referenced a 2017 investigation into the channel by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit, which likewise “concluded that children could reasonably believe that all the Ryan ToysReview videos, including sponsored ones, were independent and unbiased unless there was a clear disclosure indicating otherwise.”
Because TINA found that most toys appearing on the channel were marketed towards children ages 5 and under, the organization voiced concerns that such an audience would be unable to recognize the difference between “marketing material and organic content, even when there is a verbal indicator that attempts to identify the marketing content.”
Regardless, the quantity of reviews may foster an unhealthy consumerism within children, many of whom may not yet be old enough to understand the value of money and who may feel inclined to associate joy with getting new stuff.
Ryan’s World isn’t the top dog it once was, but if its feature-length movie release is anything to go by, it’s by no means out of the ring. You won’t find many Plugged In-style content concerns on this channel. After all, it’s formatted specifically for children. But just like most unboxing channels, Ryan’s World suffers parents to risk their own children begging for each-and-every toy appearing in a video.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Our weekly newsletter will keep you in the loop on the biggest things happening in entertainment and technology. Sign up today, and we’ll send you a chapter from the new Plugged In book, Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family, that focuses on how to implement a “screentime reset” in your family!
