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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Minidramas have officially made it on our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report. Join Alan Chikin Chow for not one, but two episode of a sponsored, bite-sized drama series that’s racked up over 50 million views so far. Then catch MrBeast putting people in jail, Vaseline Noodles exploding some kittens, and Any Austin answering a question we never thought to ask.
#1 Survive 100 Days In Prison, Win $500,000
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Moose Toys
Views: 87,473,428
It doesn’t matter if you’re a cop or a criminal–in Cell Block MrBeast, everyone‘s in jail. The world’s most-watched YouTuber has paid people to live in circles, gyms, private jets, and more, and while we wouldn’t describe those stays as cushy, they were certainly more comfortable than this one. For this video, Jimmy Beast put two contestants in a fake prison. One of them is the guard. The other, the prisoner. If the two of them can make it 100 days with only each other as company, they’ll win $500,000. And unlike the traditional cop/criminal relationship, this one has to be chummy if they want to walk away with that cool half mil.
MrBeast has been on a Shopify sponsor kick lately, but this one is brought to viewers by Moose Toys, the company that produces his Swarms figures (and an upcoming animated series to promote them).
#2 Famous Popstar Goes Undercover presented by @LANEIGE_US #BeautyAndTheBeatSeries #laneigeus [EP 1]
Channel: Alan’s Universe
Brand: Laneige
Views: 13,438,363
Alan Chikin Chow is getting glam. We’ve been writing about the minidrama craze, and Chow’s new YouTube Shorts series Beauty and the Beat, part of his fictional setting Alan’s Universe, fits right in. It’s peak drama: An overwhelmed popstar desperate for a break from the spotlight remakes herself as a high school student (with the help of cosmetics from sponsor Laneige), only to remember that hey, being a teenager isn’t always so fun. After the relief of her makeover and the safety of anonymity, she finds herself on the receiving end of classic mean girl bullying…
#3 Fashion Show SABOTAGE presented by @LANEIGE_US #BeautyAndTheBeatSeries #laneigeus [EP 3]
Channel: Alan’s Universe
Brand: Laneige
Views: 10,602,302
…but don’t worry, she gets her revenge. We don’t want to spoil the whole storyline, so we’ll just say Chow and co-star Chelsea Sik‘s content is right on target for what companies like MicroCo and ReelShort are trying to do. (Quibi also once tried to do it, but we won’t talk about that.) These are catchy, melodramatic installments with archetypal characters and familiar storylines–and clearly, fans are digging it. This series nabbed spots #2 and #3 this week, proving there’s viewer appetite for drama drama drama. We’re betting Laneige is happy too, with over 50 million views on Beauty and the Beat‘s eight episodes so far.
#4 What if Exploding Kittens were a Boardgame
Channel: Vaseline Noodles
Brand: Exploding Kittens
Views: 6,563,245
If the name “Exploding Kittens” doesn’t take you back to 2015, maybe Vaseline Noodles‘ sketch-style promo video will. In this 90-second ad for the classic card game company, Vaseline Noodles (aka Nick Wong) plays a group of friends all arguing about what to do for their latest game night. One wants a board game. The other? The extremely early-2000s-flavored viral card game Exploding Kittens. The host’s solution: Why not both? He introduces the official Exploding Kittens Board Game, which debuted earlier this month. Wong’s video is the only one the brand sponsored this week, but he’s not the only creator who brought home a stray kitten or two.
BONUS #97 Do GTA5’s Street Signs Comply With California Law?
Channel: Any Austin
Brand: Rocket Money
Views: 774,472
Any Austin is the master of answering questions you never thought to ask. What is the restaurant industry like in Skyrim? Are the woodworkers in Legend of Zelda‘s Hyrule good at their jobs? How does the waterworks system in Cyberpunk 2077 operate? Where do the birds in Red Dead Redemption 2 go? You can learn all this and more on his channel, where he just got Rocket Money to pay him to spend 22 minutes painstakingly examining whether Grand Theft Auto 5‘s dozens of street signs comply with California law.
…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.
