Father says his son created advertising campaigns for his gaming channel after watching him set up a $20 promotion
MC Tech Desk
September 16, 2026 / 11:58 IST
A nine-year-old boy allegedly spent $118,000 on YouTube advertising campaigns to promote his Minecraft and Roblox videos after gaining access to his father’s company credit card, according to an account shared by the boy’s father.
The father, identified as Dave, explained the incident in a video posted on the Mighty Mike Plays YouTube channel, which features gameplay videos created by his son Mike. According to Dave, the channel was initially created as a way for his son to share his interest in Minecraft and Roblox.
The spending reportedly began after Dave helped Mike create a small YouTube advertising campaign costing $20. The father said he showed his son how to set a budget, select an audience and launch an advertisement because Mike was disappointed that his videos were not receiving many views or subscribers.
Son allegedly continued creating campaigns
Dave said his company card had previously been saved to the Google account associated with his work email and other services. After watching his father create the $20 campaign, Mike allegedly returned to the advertising tools and began creating additional campaigns himself.
According to Dave, the nine-year-old apparently did not understand that the $20 campaign was intended to be a spending limit.
“He didn’t really register that was supposed to be some kind of limit in his head,” Dave said. “The logic was simple, I guess. More money, more views.”
The father said he discovered the issue after being called into a meeting involving his manager, corporate representatives and finance employees. During the meeting, he was shown advertising expenditure from the preceding three weeks, which reportedly totalled $118,000 on the company card.
The campaigns were allegedly connected to videos featuring names such as “Mighty Mike,” “Epic Roblox” and Minecraft gameplay. Dave said three promoted videos had accumulated approximately 200,000 views.
Family plans to add spending controls
Dave said he had not been informed at the <a href="https://comicvibe.com/5-best-indie-games-of-all-time-ranked/” title=”5 Best Indie Games Of All Time, Ranked”>time of the video whether the company would seek reimbursement or whether his employment would be affected.
He acknowledged responsibility for leaving the payment details accessible and said the family planned to remove saved payment information, introduce spending limits and activate parental controls.
The Mighty Mike Plays channel could also be paused while the family reviews the situation. The video ends with Mike responding to the situation by saying, “I’m definitely cooked.”
Dave’s account, including the $118,000 spending figure and the company’s response, has not been independently verified.
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first published: Sep 16, 2026 11:58 am
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