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.
Subscribe to get the latest creator news
Our latest Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report is a check-in with the real world. It’s got exes, escalators, iPhones, and football, with the added bonus of LEGOs thanks to omnipresent sponsor RAID: Shadow Legends. Some of the usual suspects populate our top 5 in terms of creators, and their videos this week remind us that however much of an escape watching YouTube can be, savvy creators are always plugged in to what’s happening beyond cyberspace, too.
Check ’em all out right here:
#1 Survive 30 Days Chained To Your Ex, Win $250,000
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Feastables, Current
Views: 105,084,004
MrBeast has (predictably) been #1 for a while here on our weekly lists, with occasional double-placements in spots #2 and #3. Some of those ad spots went to outside brands like the NFL, but in most cases, Jimmy Beast has been using his tens of millions of views to promote Feastables. His candy company started with one chocolate bar, but is now a full-fledged candy brand responsible for a large portion of the Beast entertainment complex’s income. Over the last few weeks, MrBeast has tapped Feastables as the sponsor on most of his videos, using the spots to promote launches of new hazelnut cups, chocolate milk, and gummy candy. This upload focuses on the chocolate milk, which seems a lot sweeter than being chained to your ex for 30 days….Unless? 👀
#2 iPhone 17/Pro/Air Impressions: Spot the Red Flags!
Channel: Marques Brownlee
Brand: Ridge
Views: 13,589,573
MrBeast isn’t the only one using his top-clicked videos to promote his own company. Marques Brownlee is one of YouTube’s top tech reviewers, and his most-viewed videos are consistently new phone debuts–especially new iPhone debuts. Everyone wants to know if the latest model is the greatest, and Brownlee usually gets his hands on one a few weeks or even months before anyone else, making his videos hot commodities for techheads. So, he used his much-anticipated iPhone 17/Pro/Air review as an ad spot for Ridge, the wallet company where he became Chief Creative Officer in 2024–and that move paid off in nearly 14 million views. (Ridge also sponsored a video from CreepCast this week that came in at #102, so add another few hundred thousand there.)
#3 Why does an escalator handrail move faster than the stairs?
Channel: Veritasium
Brand: Brilliant
Views: 8,272,391
Veritasium, as always, is out here answering the world’s most-asked questions. Why does the escalator hand rail move faster than the stairs? What seems like an innocent question is actually the gateway into exploring the physics behind how escalators work…and what can happen when the complicated machinery inside them fails. Every kid has had nightmares about escalators eating their shoelaces (no? just me?) but it turns out that fear isn’t unfounded. These commonplace conveniences are more dangerous than you think. As usual, Veritasium’s deep dive is sponsored by e-learning company Brilliant, which paid for around ~30 videos this week.
#4 I simulated a LEGO CITY…
Channel: TD BRICKS
Brand: RAID: Shadow Legends
Views: 7,250,810
Look away if you haven’t seen it, but The Lego Movie wrapped its dramatic climax with a touching father-son scene. The centerpiece of that scene was a meticulously crafted and maintained city full of everything a LEGO-sized person (looking at you, Chris Pratt) could need. The father had built it piece by piece, and the sheer scale of it was sure to make collectors everywhere salivate. Now, to celebrate his 10-year anniversary, LEGO enthusiast TD BRICKS is undertaking a project just as massive. In a 20-minute upload, he chronicles a sprawling city build, with everything from an airport to a San Francisco-style bridge to a stadium. It’s a massive passion project–just like his channel. And, like many videos on YouTube, it’s sponsored by mobile game RAID: Shadow Legends.
BONUS #513 5 Must Add Running Backs to Pick Up in Your League Before Week 2
Channel: Sal Vetri
Brand: DraftKings
Views: 207,663
We just wrote about how the NFL is becoming a king in the second-screen space. New data showed that over half of NFL viewers are engaging with NFL content on their phones while actively watching games. “NFL content” can mean player cams, behind-the-scenes footage, social media posts, and what researchers called “interactive gaming features,” which we think probably includes fantasy sports apps. It’s long been known that fantasy sports increases engagement with leagues, because you have to be engaged on a daily basis if you want to know how your lineup is faring (and whether you’re making any money). Looking at this week’s sponsored videos, it’s clear that hunger for engagement beyond games extends into YouTube content, giving creators a way to monetize their fantasy sports advice, and giving DraftKings a way to advertise its services at the start of the 2025-26 NFL season.
…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.
