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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Mrwhosetheboss has been having quite a run on our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Reports this month. After a partnership with cybersecurity software Bitdefender, he’s back on the list with a double-header featuring Eight Sleep and Liene, both of which are particularly well-themed for his videos this week. Joining him on the list are…well, we won’t spoil.
Check out all our top 5 videos below:
#1 How One Company Secretly Poisoned The Planet
Channel: Veritasium
Brand: Ground News
Views: 12,029,279
Starting us off is an hourlong whopper from STEM superchannel Veritasium, which has yet to go a month without appearing in the top 5 at least once. His latest production is a deep dive into PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, aka “forever chemicals,” and how they’re affecting our health. This dive goes all the way back through history to the invention of fridges and their use of freon (a forever chemical), the Manhattan Project and its use of Teflon (you got it–a forever chemical), and companies like DuPont and Chemours, which have been accused of spreading “extensive contamination” with production of PFAS. Then the big moment: Veritasium host Derek Muller gets his blood tested to see how many forever chemicals he’s circulating. This investigation is sponsored by Ground News, the news comparison site that kicked up sponsorships during the 2024 election and has remained a prominent YouTuber partner since. It sponsored ~70 other videos this week.
#2 I Tested 1-Star Hotels (finale)
Channel: Ryan Trahan
Brand: Shopify
Views: 9,145,851
Mold? Roaches? No coffee? “Balcony view” looking out on a brick wall? All this and more is to be found in one-star hotel reviews across the U.S., and Ryan Trahan is here to investigate. Wrapping up his I Tested 1-Star Hotels series, he hits up four spots with particularly dire reviews to see if they’re accurate, or if people were just having a bad day. Trahan’s viewership surged during his now-iconic penny series in 2022, and since then, he’s focused a lot on spotlighting small businesses, doing things like hitting up family-owned restaurants with no reviews and giving rough-reviewed locations a fair shot. In most cases, he’s found the people behind these restaurants–and now, hotels–are trying, and that the dire reviews drive them to fix issues, so by the time he gets there, things are looking much brighter. His grand finale is sponsored by longtime partner Shopify, which paid for ~23 other videos this week.
#3 $60,000 Bed vs $5,000 Smart Bed
Channel: Mrwhosetheboss
Brand: Eight Sleep
Views: 4,818,034
It took Mrwhosetheboss just 60 seconds to hit spot #3 this week. We don’t often see Shorts on our Weekly Brand Reports, simply because far fewer sponsors do short-form deals on YouTube. (Guess they’re all going to TikTok instead…) But established creators sometimes nab Shorts deals–and this is one of those times. Something we’ve noticed about the Shorts that hit out top 5 is that, unlike with long-form vids, they’re often almost entirely about the sponsor. In this video, for example, Mrwhosetheboss is pitting a $60K luxury bed against a far cheaper “smartbed” from sponsor Eight Sleep. The entire video concept is about advertising his sponsor’s product. And we’re betting his sponsor–which partnered with ~6 other creators this week–is pretty pleased with the results.
#4 I spent $10,000 on Kickstarter Tech.
Channel: Mrwhosetheboss
Brand: Liene
Views: 4,602,897
And for his second vid, Mrwhosetheboss picked up personal photo printer company Liene, which–like the companies he’s examining in the video–launched thanks to backers on Kickstarter. His #4 video is a lot longer than #3, and shows him dissecting $10K worth of tech from startups who got where they are with a kickstart. Are they worth it? Did they do what they promised? We’ve all heard of dire Kickstarter failures…but these products might just make it.
BONUS #5 “Is baby oil and lubricant a federal crime? NO”- Diddy’s Defense | Day 1
Channel: Rotten Mango
Brand: Acorns
Views: 4,073,491
We typically pick a bonus video from further down the list, but this week’s #5 video is culturally significant. It’s from Rotten Mango, the podcast that just kicked The Joe Rogan Experience out of top spot on YouTube’s new weekly podcast charts. When the charts debuted, JRE was, as expected, right at the top. But Rotten Mango–a true crime ‘cast hosted by creator Stephanie Soo–was quick to overtake it. This week’s video is also culturally relevant because, with the Diddy case playing out in court, we’re back where we were with the Amber Heard vs Johnny Depp situation. Lots of creators covered that trial with surgical detail, leading to discussions about whether these kinds of videos are ethical–especially when creators are profiting from them. But discussions of ethics haven’t stopped true crime/court creators, and now a new wave is hitting YouTube. Rotten Mango‘s first episode on the Diddy trial was sponsored by saving/investing fintech company Acorns, which frequently partners with podcasts.
…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.
