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. You can also download our YouTube 2025 Sponsorship Landscape Report here.
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Tell us that title isn’t an anime you would watch. (And then Netflix would make a middling live action adaptation.)
This week, like last week, is largely Shorts. And, as usual, MrBeast is at the top. But we do have a couple sponsors who aren’t normally in our top 5, including the very timely TurboTax. Don’t worry, though–our bonus video will distract you from the impending doom of owing the IRS.
Check ’em all out right here:
#1 30 Celebrities Fight For $1,000,000!
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Jack Link’s
Views: 95,013,830
Kevin Hart. Paris Hilton. Steve-O. Josh Peck.
That’s just a few of the 30 celebs MrBeast managed to trap in a circle for this ultra-glam version of his tried-and-true “do it longer than everyone else and I’ll give you some money” formula. For this video–sponsored by MrBeast’s ongoing partner Jack Link’s–celebrities didn’t compete for $1 million to keep for themselves; they competed for $1 million to give the charity of their choice.
The rest of this video plays out pretty much like you’d expect. There are some challenges to push folks out of the running, some deep dives into why certain celebs are participating, and more…
The winning charity is obviously walking away peachy, but we think Jack Link’s is a pretty big winner here too. In a deal with MrBeast, it got appearances by dozens of household names–and nearly 100 million views to top it all off. Now that’s a snack.
#2 What anime do you recommend to your friends? Watch the biggest anime catalog on @crunchyroll
Channel: Mangaka Brandon Chen
Brand: Crunchyroll
Views: 12,810,418
We get to flex a little bit here, because we knew Brandon Chen before he landed his big Crunchyroll partnership. For those who don’t know him, Chen is an American manga writer who runs his own studio, Inspired Productions, and is the creator of Just a Goblin on Webtoon.
Safe to say he knows his stuff when it comes to manga and anime, which is why Crunchyroll tapped him to make this Short where he recommends series for people who are brand-new to watching anime. It’s a smooth move on Crunchyroll’s part: Chen’s picks are broad-interest shows that will appeal to a lot of people–some of whom might become new Crunchyroll subscribers–and his descriptions of them show off his writerly prowess.
As for why this video got so many views, we’re guessing it has something to do with community interactions. The video’s comment section is full of people recommending their own favorites, which could also work in Crunchyroll’s favor. Chen’s video is just one part of a campaign that seems to be paying off for the streamer so far: Crunchyroll also sponsored the #6 most-watched video this week.
#3 I love them they’re so random😭 @turbotax #TurboTaxPartner #ad
Channel: Carter Kench
Brand: TurboTax
Views: 11,093,113
Nobody likes taxes. It’s overly complicated, sometimes you owe money, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but there’s always this perpetual sense of doom and constant worry that the IRS is going to come bang down my door like Big Bird.
But Carter Kench says that’s not an issue for people who use TurboTax. His sponsor’s big feature for the upcoming tax season? An auto-scan that looks at your W-2, then enters all the information in your tax return for you. Kench’s video hits hard on the DIY aspect of TurboTax: He filmed on the beach, in bed…All locations to give viewers the vibe that filing taxes will be easy-breezy.
We do think his creator viewers (and anyone who earns income outside a W-2) might find things more complicated, but TurboTax is going after the folks with regular jobs here. And it’s clearly resonated, since this video has racked up over 11 million views. It’s also not the only video in TurboTax’s sweep this week. The tax-filing software company sponsored nearly a dozen total, and we expect that number will increase the closer we creep to April 15.
#4 I Went To PROM In Heartopia!
Channel: HyperCookiie
Brand: Heartopia
Views: 10,293,196
The newest cozy game entrant is here. We’re getting big Brookhaven vibes from Heartopia, which sponsored 10 videos this week where creators showed off its life sim environment where players interact and come up with their own stories against the game’s cutesy backdrop.
Unsurprisingly, HyperCookiie and many other creators Heartopia sponsored generally make content about Roblox games (like Brookhaven, a similar life sim/RP environment). It’s clear the developers know where to find their biggest potential pool of players–and that knowledge is working out.
This video got 10 million views, making it one of the highest-viewed #4 videos we’ve seen in a while. Usually by spot #3, we’re down from MrBeast’s gajillion views to a more normal ~5 million views or so. But this week? We’re still above 10 million. Video views don’t drop down to ~5 million until spot #9, a Kill Tony episode.
BONUS #2721 FALLING into this books PLOT HOLES
Channel: Reads with Rachel
Brand: Ray-Ban Meta AI
Views: 32,011
I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about romance lately, mostly thanks to the exploding popularity of hockey romance Heated Rivalry. And while I will always be a staunch defender of romance as a genre, sometimes–like in all other genres–things just don’t go so well.
That’s Reads with Rachel‘s conclusion on Falling, a novel by best-friend writer duo Christina Lauren that kicks off with a protagonist who goes to a Halloween party, dumps her boyfriend, and then hooks up with an angel. I haven’t read it, but Rachel’s main nitpick is how the plot sews together–or, well, doesn’t.
What’s clever about her sponsor for this video is that it’s FlexiSpot, a furniture ecommerce company with a very broad customer base. But both FlexiSpot and Rachel made the marketing specific to her audience. If there’s one thing readers love, it’s cozy nooks. FlexiSpot has them nailed there. And then Rachel links FlexiSpot to an emotional point for her, telling a story about going to visit her best friend, only to be stuck with bad sleep because of a creaky bedframe. The solution is obviously new, soundless bedframes from FlexiSpot.
We’ve said before how we dig brands that know how to source and connect with niche audiences, so…Nicely done, FlexiSpot.
…and there’s a lot more data where that came from. If you like our Weekly Top 5, you’ll love everything else Gospel has to offer. Start with our newly released YouTube 2025 Sponsorship Landscape Report, which you can download right here.
