TOGETHER WITH

It's Wednesday and OpenAI has one question for the new-and-improved ChatGPT: How much pizza does a team of 778 employees need to get through the night?

READY FOR LAUNCH

Mark Rober is bringing the magic of rocket science to Roblox

Mark Rober is on a mission to “reach as many young minds as possible.” His first stop: Roblox.

The 43-year-old engineer has created “Build a Rocket VS Mark Rober,” a CrunchLabs-affiliated Roblox world in which players gather materials to build rockets. A series of challenges leads to the experience’s ultimate goal: the defeat of evil Fat Tail and the rescue of Phat Gus (aka one of the squirrels that tackled an obstacle course in Rober’s yard).

Successful players will walk away from “Build a Rocket” with more than a newfound understanding of rocketry. Those who complete Rober’s Roblox experience before December 31 can also enter for a chance to visit the YouTuber’s IRL CrunchLabs home base.

Find out more about that contest here.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Viral Nation Talent revolutionizes creator careers—with lucrative brand partnerships, 360° PR services, and more

Viral Nation Talent is more than just the world’s #1 influencer talent agency. With a 360° approach to creator growth and in-house PR, content diversification, and marketing services, Viral Nation is the support system you need to take your career to new heights. 

Here’s why creators like Steven He, Amber Rose, and The Furrha Family have joined forces with Viral Nation:

Lucrative Brand Deals 🤝
Viral Nation talent agents leverage connections with top companies like Amazon, Verizon, Hilton, Nike, and Warner Bros to secure lucrative brand partnerships, activations, and sponsorships for 800+ creators, athletes and celebrities across all niches and platforms.

Dedicated PR & Marketing Services 📣
From TV and red carpet appearances to merch drops and placements in top publications like Time, Bloomberg, and People, Viral Nation’s industry-leading PR and marketing teams​ are dedicated to elevating your visibility.

Multiplatform Content Diversification & Original Programming 🔥
Viral Nation’s expert content and programming teams craft original content pitches for networks and streaming platforms while helping creators unlock new revenue streams and audiences through content optimization, syndication, podcasting, and licensing opportunities. 

Check out Viral Nation’s website to learn how their team can take your career to new heights:

​​Learn more about Viral Nation →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• TikTok star Addison Rae Easterling has scored a supporting role in Thanksgiving, a new horror film from director Eli Roth. (Tubefilter)
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• Dude Perfect’s recent Booster collab raises a key question: if kids are the target audience for family-friendly creators, why aren’t more of them teaming up with school fundraising companies? (Tubefilter)
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• According to “people with direct knowledge of the matter,” 747 of OpenAI’s 770 employees have threatened to quit if former CEO Sam Altman is not reinstated. (Ars Technica)
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• X is suing Media Matters for allegedly attempting to “destroy X Corp” by “manufacturing” images of ads placed next to white nationalist content. (Engadget)

DATA • GOSPEL STATS 📈

There’s nothing like a secret garage to stir up millions of views

This week’s top branded YouTube videos were all about variety. Clips from Colin Furze, Beast Philanthropy, and Steve Mould offered viewers everything from secret tunnels to free turkeys and slow-motion action shots—and scored a combined 17 million views in the process.

Read on to get a sneak peek at the latest Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report:

🥇 Colin Furze x Surfshark VPN: Digging a SECRET GARAGE Part 1
Colin Furze has a thing for “crazy inventions”—and he’s not the only one. More than 6 million viewers tuned in to watch the daredevil dig a secret tunnel (and nearly take out his house’s foundation in the process). The video’s sponsor, Surfshark VPN, had an eventful week, too. While Furze got his hands dirty, Surfshark sponsored more than 20 other clips.

🥈 Beast Philanthropy x iBotta: We’re Giving Away $30 Million in Free Food
Beast Philanthropy’s latest sponsored video involved a very different kind of foundation. With a little help from iBotta, the initiative introduced a $30 million effort to deliver food to those in need. That wasn’t the end of iBotta’s holiday spirit: the cash-back company also made a pledge to provide free turkeys to winning households.

🥉 Steve Mould x Henson Shaving:  A cast saw on human skin
A good blade can go a long way. Steve Mould and Henson Shaving proved that adage twice over in a recent video by showing viewers the capabilities of a cast saw (and, of course, an effective-yet-affordable shaving razor).

Check out our full article here to learn more about this week’s top-viewed branded videos—and then head over to Gospel Stats to discover who’s sponsoring who in the world of online video.

KEEP IT COOL

Shopify gave up its ad spot on a MrBeast video for this beer-inspired small business

Ad slots in MrBeast videos don’t come cheap—and for good reason. On average, videos posted by MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) are watched by 145 million people within their first 90 days on the platform.

As a longtime partner of MrBeast, Shopify is often the lucky recipient of those views. But earlier this fall, the ecommerce company decided to “flip the script”—by giving one of its ad slots to a small business. Unsurprisingly, Shopify says that giveaway (which applied to one upcoming MrBeast video) grabbed the attention of “SO many” companies.

The ultimate winner: Kanga Coolers.

Kanga Coolers was invented by three Clemson University students—Logan Lamance, Austin Maxwell, and Ryan Frazier—back in 2017. The inspiration behind the soft cooler brand was simple: its founders were tired of drinking warm beer and wanted a way to keep a small case cold for up to seven hours without ice.

The resulting product made its way onto Shark Tank in 2019, and even received a $100,000 offer from Mark Cuban. But although Manace, Maxwell, and Frazier accepted the investment, a deal was never closed.

Now, Kanga Coolers’ luck seems to be changing for the better.

WATCH THIS 📺

A gamified platform is gearing up to compete with Twitch and Kick

Twitch and Kick might have deep pockets and big creators, but Noice is hoping to bring something new to the streaming biz: a “true multiplayer experience” that adds minigames to streaming sessions.

The “next-gen livestreaming platform”—which launched a closed beta yesterday—aims to give viewers an opportunity to bet on their favorite gaming streamers while differentiating themselves via custom avatars. (You can get a sneak peek at a few of Noice’s avatar options here.)

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.