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.
This is our first Gospel Stats Brand Report since YouTube introduced its first-frame view metric, and we can see it in the numbers. There’s a general rise in viewcounts across the board: more than a dozen sponsored videos hit eight-figure counts this week, and several hundred videos were above one million views.
We’re intrigued to keep tracking these bigger numbers as YouTube’s new normal.
As for who’s in the top 5 this week, that’s not nearly so much of a change. MrBeast of course logs top spot, Mr Insanity has a place, and then we get into the trendy twosome that is Dubai chocolate and ASMR.
Check ’em all out below:
#1 Worlds Largest Minecraft Build!
Channel: MrBeast Gaming
Brand: MrBeast Lab
Views: 44,043,717
Despite all the flashy titles that have come out over the last 15 years, nothing has been able to top Minecraft. The sandbox builder–the original king of Let’s Plays and a major contributor to gaming’s foothold on YouTube–has maintained its spot as the top game across video platforms.
And people are still finding new things to build.
This week, MrBeast uses his secondary channel MrBeast Gaming to spotlight some of the biggest Minecraft builder passion projects in the world. We’ve got a gamer who’s trying to make Minecraft 2 in the original engine, with sprawling ecosystems and extremely detailed surroundings. We have a group of folks making what they call the “largest fanart project in the world”: a full-scale recreation of The Lord of the Rings‘ fantastical setting–the Shire, Minas Tirith, The Gates Of Argonath, and more.
Finally, after a little MrBeast Lab promotion, MrBeast wraps up with a 1-to-1 recreation of New York City, which is detail-accurate meter-to-meter and contains over a trillion blocks.
With builds like these, it’s not hard to see why no one can challenge Minecraft‘s crown.
#2 Rich Mass Killer Realizes Shes Been Caught 8 Years Later
Channel: Dr Insanity
Brand: SimpliSafe
Views: 34,685,640
Next up we’ve got a Dr Insanity special: He pieces together the stressful story of a four-person homicide, then pitches a personal security product he says could help keep viewers safe from similar crimes.
Using police footage, Dr Insanity chronicles the 2015 murders of Mike Scott, Barbara Scott, Cathy Scott, and Violet Taylor, and reveals how a TV show inquiry reopened the case eight years later with evidence against the the Scotts’ daughter Amy Vilardi and her husband Ross Vilardi. They lived next door to the victims–and Dr Insanity says that security systems from sponsor SimpliSafe could help you keep an eye on your neighbors.
SimpliSafe is a pretty prolific YouTube sponsor: It paid for almost 20 videos this week alone.
#3 A Week In The Life of MrBeast
Channel: MrBeast 2
Brand: Feastables, Old Navy
Views: 30,834,915
Now this is quite the rarity. MrBeast shows up in basically every Gospel Stats Brand Report with his latest big-production video, but a MrBeast behind-the-scenes? Unusual.
Of course, while MrBeast takes viewers through a week of his life, things are still highly curated. He munches on Feastables at every opportunity, and plugs sponsor Old Navy again after it sponsored an Aug. 11 video where Jimmy gives a teacher $9,000 as a reward for her students’ savviness.
Despite the polish, this video is a glimpse of just how much work goes into the Beast Empire.
#4 First I fell for Ülker Chocolate Istanbul and now Ive finally tried Ülker Chocolate Dubai Taste too
Channel: Maria Vehera ASMR
Brand: Ülker
Views: 28,205,876
Ülker is back. It last charted in October 2025–and it was in spot #4 then too. Much like its 2025 video, this one is a short, simple, and sweet taste test that (because Maria Vehera is an ASMR creator) focuses on the sensory experience of eating the Turkish chocolate brand’s bars.
Dubai chocolate first went viral in 2023. Three years later, and this video’s high placement shows that it (and ASMR) might never go out of style.
BONUS #5,231 With special guest: the @ninjakitchen CrushBOSS #NinjaPartner #NinjaCrushBOSS
Channel: Samantha
Brand: Ninja
Views: 38,965
My toxic trait is thinking I can always use another kitchen gadget. Unfortunately for the wallets of people like me, lifestyle/couple vlogger Samantha is sponsored by Ninja this week, showing off its new CrushBOSS blender. This high-energy, humor-filled Short whets viewers’ appetites by showing off what the BOSS is capable of: pico de gallo and margaritas, fast, in the same machine.
Samantha’s joined by a handful of other similarly funny creators also promoting Ninja this week, including FutureCanoe, Dylan Nalbandian, and smoothieflip.
…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.
At this year's VidSummit, running Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Irving Convention Center in Texas,…
Between September 21-23, the organization that oversees competitive fencing in the United States is bringing influencers…
The large language model (LLM) that introduced many consumers to the current era of AI…
As Donald Trump faces a media blockade, he's counting on YouTube to keep him on air. A…
There's a new app turning textbooks into social media feeds that look like the For…
Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends,…