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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Our latest Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report brings back MrBeast, who–as usual–is unchallenged in spot #1. Hard to compete with someone who churns out 66 million views per video–although we will say this total is lower than totals we’ve seen in the past, which have hovered around ~100 million views. Also on the roster this week is Joe Rogan, who’s moved on from Magnus Carlsen and now has Elon Musk in the hot seat. As for who else joins them in our top 5…you’ll just have to find out below.
#1 100 People Trapped Inside 100 Circles For $500,000
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Shopify
Views: 66,880,523
MrBeast is back and up to his usual shenanigans. After a few weeks off from publishing a sponsored video, he has Shopify on his side for a competition that pits 100 people against one another to find out who can stay in their tiny circle the longest and win $500,000. Like all of MrBeast’s other competitions, including his Amazon show Beast Games, this one comes with a hefty dose of psychological warfare and a few chances to show good sportsmanship. Will people take them–or will they try to get that bag?
#2 Joe Rogan Experience #2281 – Elon Musk
Channel: PowerfulJRE
Brand: LifeLock, Netsuite
Views: 11,933,107
Joe Rogan has become a mainstay on our Weekly Brand Reports since the leadup to the 2024 presidential election. In January, his channel became the first to take a whopping three spots on our top 5, with episodes guest-starring Mel Gibson, Mark Zuckerberg, and Wesley Huff. Last week he made slot #3 by tapping in chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen. This week? He spent three whole hours with Elon Musk—no blunts involved.
#3 Apes Freaked Out When I Spoke Their Language
Channel: Xiaomanyc 小马在纽约
Brand: MyHeritage
Views: 7,540,218
The whole “white guy SHOCKS locals by speaking their language” trend has been a thing on YouTube for a couple years now, and people seem torn on whether it’s a net positive or not. But one thing is certain: Xiaomanyc has built a business off it. A polyglot who says he’s studied “dozens of languages,” Xiaomanyc travels the world filming people’s reactions to him speaking their dialects. But in this week’s video, he goes beyond people, taking a leaf out of Jane Goodall‘s book and using his skills to forge a connection with some very surprised apes.
#4 Coulda Been Love Episode 3: Stud Check
Channel: Druski
Brand: Ro, PrizePicks
Views: 6,965,625
Move over, MTV. Druski is back–and he’s using his channel as the home for Coulda Been Love, a series where he brings 17 women to his house in hopes of finding love. This show (which made spot #1 in last week’s brand report) packs just as much drama in its 60-minute episodes as all the reality shows of the early 2000s–and thanks to YouTube comments, the entire internet appears to be having a collective watch party every time a new installment drops.
BONUS #2,403 Making An ALIEN BUG FRAME
Channel: Bill Making Stuff
Brand: Squarespace
Views: 27,327
Imagine it’s 2804. You land your spaceship on a distant, unexplored planet, guided by an ancient forum post from a long-dead fellow explorer who theorized there may be never-before-seen insects scurrying along under the planet’s dense cloud cover, using its strange, sap-sticky trees as impenetrable nests. That’s the sort of imagination you need to join Bill Making Stuff on his latest adventure. He uses his vast store of craft supplies to create a display shadowbox of beautiful bugs that don’t exist…at least, as far as we know. Like many creative endeavors on YouTube, his half-hour video is sponsored by website builder/host Squarespace, which also paid for nearly 100 other uploads this week.
…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.
