Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: Love is in the air

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.

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Sometimes our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Reports seem to have a theme, as if thousands of creators in thousands of niches decided to unite across the internet in some tacit agreement that, yes, everyone’s meditating on that this week. But other weeks, like this week, are just as interesting: A collection of videos with diversity of topic, form, and function that shows off how YouTube continues to be a place for creators of all sorts to share what they’re up to.

Check ’em all out right here:

#1 World’s Fastest Dinner Date
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Feastables
Views: 167,052,335

We had a long streak where MrBeast wasn’t at the top of our list every single week. But that streak has now ended, because he’s been leading our top 5 consistently for a couple months now, getting lots of eyeballs on his own brand Feastables as well as sponsor brands like Jack Link’s and DoorDash.

All that is to say that whenever MrBeast publishes a sponsored video, it’s going to be at the top of our list. But that can be a little hard to swallow when the video (like today’s, sponsored by Feastables) is just 33 seconds long. 33 seconds and 167 million views, when there are creators out there making hours-long video essays and barely cracking 10K. Now, sure, there are arguments to be made about audience appetite and content quality, but the fact remains: MrBeast is generating record-setting numbers of views with videos that are shorter than microwaving a cup noodle.

#2 Building a porch railing with a laser. #ad #MILESEEYS50 #MILESEEYTOOLS #lasermeasure
Channel: CR Carpentry & Remodeling
Brand: Mileseey
Views: 16,901,551

Video #2 this week is also a Short (so is video #3, but we’ll get to that). Like many videos from our Sept. 29 report, this clip is from a small business showing what life is like offering their services on a day-to-day basis. And, like many small biz videos, CR Carpentry & Remodeling‘s is backed by a sponsor that operates in its space: tool company Mileseey.

We totally get big creator partnerships that are often part of large-scale campaigns–campaigns that target a bunch of sizable creators from across niches to talk about products that may personally interest them and be appealing to a portion of their audience, but aren’t directly related to their content. (Think a gaming creator promoting an underwear brand, or a draw-with-me artist promoting a meal kit company.) Those can and do work for brands. But partnerships like this

, where a small business actually uses a niche industrial product that’s essential to their work, are a special type of sponsorship. We like to see ’em.

#3 Jumping over more and more @LEGO bricks #ad #LEGOPartner
Channel: Daniel LaBelle
Brand: LEGO
Views: 16,162,002

And that’s three for three on Shorts. Like MrBeast’s, Daniel LaBelle‘s video this week clocks in at well under a minute–but those 28 seconds are all sponsor LEGO needed. LEGO is not a super prolific sponsor, and is actually a great example of going out of niche for partnerships: It picks one or two channels each week, and those channels usually do not have a history of making LEGO content. Instead they’re people like LaBelle, a physical comedian known for his dramatic performances, and viewbait/challenge creator Preston, who came in spot #841 this week with his own under-a-minute LEGO ad.

#4 I Built a WATERPARK in a Truck
Channel: Jordan Matter
Brand: Sephora
Views: 8,880,861

After Salish Matter shut down the American Dream mall with the Sephora-based launch of her new skincare brand Sincerely Yours, we’re not surprised she snagged the cosmetics vendor as a sponsor for her latest video. And we’re betting Sephora is pleased, because it doesn’t just get a small, 30-second shout-out in this half-hour video. Instead, the entire video is about Salish setting up a mobile Sephora store in a boxtruck, while her dad Jordan Matter turns his own truck into a waterpark.

Whichever creator tricks out their vehicle the best wins a prize–but either way, Sephora is the real winner here.

BONUS #1,030 Your Worst Halloween “Hear Me Outs”: Graded
Channel: Blake Jennings
Brand: Uncommon Goods
Views: 122,137

We like to end these with some levity, so as we head into spooky season, Blake Jennings is here to judge you all for your taste in nookie. This video builds on the whole “hear me out” trend, where people would gather together and present the cartoon character/Pokemon/inanimate object/etc they would most like to meet in a non-Biblical way. You want to get down with Shaggy from Scooby-Doo? That’s basic. Try the disconcertingly sexy puff of smog from FernGully, or a particularly curvaceous building from a 90s rom-com.

Anyway, now that you’re primed to experience this…Jennings has a rundown of viewer-submitted Halloween-themed hear-me-outs that are perfect for putting you in the trick-or-treat mood, all backed by Brooklyn-based giftshop Uncommon Goods.

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…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.