Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: 50 YouTubers, a million dollars, and one MrBeast sponsorship

Welcome to our rundown of the most-watched branded YouTube videos of the week.

We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for the ranking.

And – as the name up above would imply – all the data comes from Gospel Stats. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here.

What happens when you get 50 top YouTubers to fight for a million bucks? Well, if you’re MrBeast, you get 168 million views–and also secure yourself spot #1 on Gospel Stats‘ latest Weekly Brand Report. The other videos on this week’s list may not have 50 content creators duking it out (metaphorically), but they’re still topping the charts with a smorgasbord of cute animals, some feel-good vibes, and a world record one gamer is going to “TELL MY GRANDCHILDREN ABOUT ONE DAY.”

See all the videos here:

#1 50 YouTubers Fight For $1,000,000
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Samsung
Views: 168 million

MrBeast is on a many-years-long roll, but the latest speed boost in his creator journey came as he hit 300 million subscribers, making him YouTube‘s largest channel ever. (T-Series L once again.) And, almost immediately after, he dropped his biggest video yet, where 50 major creators–Kai Cenat, Ryan Trahan, Logan Paul, MatPat, LilyPichu, Valkyrae, Jacksfilms, MoistCr1TiKaL, Ludwig, and Mark Rober, to name a few–came together to compete for a cool $1 million. And the most interesting part? That $1 million wouldn’t go to the winner, but to their subscribers. We won’t spoil who won, but we will say that person pledged to use the cash to help send their subscribers to art school. This whole impressively coordinated venture was sponsored by Samsung, which we’re guessing was more than thrilled to have its name on the biggest Beast video of all time.

#2 Why I Cut my Fish
Channel: Fish4Ever
Brand: API Fish Care
Views: 15 million

Yes, yes, the internet loves cute cats and wiggly puppie–but increasingly, it’s becoming clear that people online also really like fish. Aquarium-keeping and fishing channels both have seen serious traffic since the start of the pandemic, with some of them going on to land things like TV deals and award show spotlights. Viewers’ thirst for denizens of the watery depths is clear in this week’s #2 video, where Fish4Ever (who we identified as a Creator on the Rise back in 2022, btw) explains why she took a drastic approach to help out her struggling goldfish. The video is appropriately sponsored by aquatics brand API Fish Care

#3 Opposite TWINS SWAP LIVES For 1 Week
Channel: Dhar Mann Studios
Brand: Dragon City
Views: 5.8 million

Dhar Mann Studios is back. Just like last week, it’s nabbed spot #3 on our list with another lengthy scripted video that’s meant to give viewers hope in tough times. This week’s follows a set of fraternal twins, one “skinny and pretty,” as her sister puts it, and one who’s built a little heavier and struggles with self-confidence. Like the rest of Dhar Mann Studios’ fare, the 43-minute video has a feel-good ending–and, like last week’s Dhar Mann video, it’s also sponsored by a video game. This time it’s Dragon City, a mobile game that has an ongoing relationship with the studio and gets a fun little spotlight from its actors in a scripted ad.

#4 New Family Member!
Channel: PewDiePie
Brand: NordVPN
Views: 4.8 million

Meet Mugi, the newest member of the PewDiePie household. Felix Kjellberg‘s main YouTube fare these days is Minecraft videos, but he also regularly provides updates on what he, his wife Marzia, and their son Bjorn get up to out in the IRL. This latest vlog follows their adventures in Tokyo…with a little something extra. Toward the end, Kjellberg introduces their new pup and talks about how getting her was extremely difficult, because the family was rejected multiple times. “But with the help of friends and lots of persistence, we adopted Mugi!” he says. Her spotlight is sponsored by Nord VPN, which also paid for 14 other videos this week.

BONUS #709 I Won the National Championship in CFB 25!
Channel: RBT
Brand: EA Creator Network
Views: 116K

And last but not least, our bonus vid, where sports video gamer RBT got his hands on an early access copy of College Football 25–think FIFA or Madden but, of course, for college football–and promptly used that access to become the first person on earth to propel a virtual team to victory in the game’s national championship. His legendary accomplishment is sponsored by EA Creator Network, which isn’t surprising since EA is both developer and publisher of College Football 25. It’s shelling out some serious cash to get creators to talk about its game: It sponsored 58 videos this week from various YouTubers, all about CB25.

…and there’s a lot more data where that came from. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here.