Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: Is this thumbnail culture?

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 t he 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.

MrBeast leads the charge this week with an…interesting…thumbnail and Airrack at his heels. Then we’ve got a little skincare, a little spooky season, and a long-form look at the science of our sun.

Check ’em all out below:

#1 Eat Everything In A Grocery Store, Win $1,000,000
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Google Fitbit Air, Kizik, iFit, Good Ranchers
Views: 255,794,891

Anyone else getting Shallow Hal flashbacks? Except instead of Gwyneth Paltrow in pounds of prosthetics, we have a digital (or AI?) fatsuit for Jimmy Beast.

But don’t let that fool you: As usual, MrBeast isn’t actually participating in his video’s super-lengthy challenge. It’s four contestants who have to spend 190 days eating their way through an entire grocery store’s worth of food while separated from their homes, families, and friends. Hopefully that’s worth the million-dollar prize to them…….if they manage to win it.

MrBeast and Google have a major ongoing partnership, so we’re not surprised to see him hawking its Fitbit Air in this video. But we are surprised to see Google sharing the stage with three other sponsors: workout app iFIT, slip-on shoe company Kizik, and meat-by-mail biz Good Ranchers. They all get a slice of spotlight in this hourlong video, and their investment has paid off with a staggering 256 million views so far–the highest viewcount we’ve seen for a MrBeast video in quite a long time. (Worth noting, though, that this may be due in part to YouTube’s recent change in how it counts public views.)

#2 her secret dermatologist? / usd Arencia Vitamin C Booster Shot on her ? #arencia #vitaminC #couple
Channel: hyoga.x
Brand: Arencia
Views: 18,596,122

Girls have to bleach their pits now too???

According to hyoga.x and Arencia, yup. This 30-second Short ad has him “secretly” spraying his girl’s underarms with the K-beauty brand’s vitamin C booster product in hopes they’ll end up looking…less like skin, I guess?

However they end up, millions of viewers got hyperzoomed looks at some pits and Arencia got international exposure across the Shorts algorithm.

#3 I Hid In MrBeasts Grocery Store
Channel: Airrack
Brand: DraftKings
Views: 16,810,878

MrBeast isn’t the only one making money off his grocery store video.

That upload reappears in spot #3, with Airrack totally 100% actually really “hiding” on set while contestants munched their way through the store’s stock. He also popped over to the Sidemen and Nick DiGiovanni and piggybacked their productions, too.

And if he’s hurting to spend any of the cash from his 16+ million views, he can drain his wallet with sponsor DraftKings. Airrack says anyone who joins the daily fantasy betting site for the first time can “turn $5 into $150 in total bonuses,” but I’d read the fine print. Being a DraftKings bettor don’t come that cheap.

#4 The Sun Is Weirder Than You Think
Channel: Cleo Abram
Brand: AT&T
Views: 8,078,329

Former Vox journalist Cleo Abram is taking AT&T for a deep dive into the sun. The telecom company is the “official connectivity partner” of Abram’s STEM series HUGE* If True, and for this installment, it’s sponsoring Abram’s explanation of the “golden age of solar science.”

And that is true: We’re learning more about the sun than ever before thanks to advancements that have made things like probe scans possible. But how can all this new knowledge bolster our understanding of the universe around us?

You’ll have to watch to find out.

BONUS #5,577 Testing Out A Potions Kit!
Channel: HOLY Energy
Brand: Novympia
Views: 35,613

Spooky season is upon us, and drag duo Nova and Olympia are welcoming it with glitter wigs and witch hats. This potion-making installment on their shared YouTube channel features a cute little pocket-sized potion-making kit and is sponsored by HOLY, which bills itself as a company making “soft drinks with great taste and a good conscience.”

Specifically the gals’ video is sponsored by HOLY’s new energy line–and so are more than 10 other videos this week, including a motorcycle race from Obsession Engineering, a Swedish shopping spree, and an early Christmas dinner.

…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.