TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and Google is reportedly jumping on the influencer chatbot bandwagon. Will the brand’s YouTuber-based AIs be enough to beat Meta’s MrBeast and Snoop Dogg personas?

LAB EXPERIMENT 🧪

The launch of MrBeast’s new toy line is only weeks away

The announcement: MrBeast Lab is almost here. The new toy line—which was co-developed by MrBeast and Shopkins creator Moose Toys—will hit shelves in the U.S. this July.

The toys: According to Moose Toys, MrBeast Lab will encompass a full set of collectibles and action figures designed to capture “the ferocity of the globally recognizable MrBeast logo.”

• Fans can look forward to picking up micro collectibles called Swarms, color-changing toys named Mutators, and additional figures that will resemble MrBeast’s panther logo. At launch, every item will be priced at $24.99 or less.
  
  

• MrBeast’s 289 million subscribers won’t have to stop by the toy aisle to get a peek at his new line. The toys are expected to appear in the creator’s YouTube videos, while Moose Toys plans to exhibit MrBeast Lab next month at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

The context: MrBeast’s multimedia empire is growing at an unprecedented speed. The YouTuber has now broken into every industry from education and creator analytics to the snack biz—and he doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. The debut of MrBeast Lab is set to occur mere weeks after news broke of the creator’s alleged plans for a beverage brand and mobile game.

• With an Amazon game show on the horizon, industry onlookers can expect Donaldson to continue redefining the bounds of creator-led brands at every turn.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

From dance parties to cocktail mixers, Viral Nation takes VidCon way beyond the convention center

VidCon is about SO much more than presentations and panels (although we love those too!). From Meet & Greets with viral creators like Pinky Patel to star-studded cocktail mixers, Viral Nation is delivering unforgettable VidCon moments that go way beyond the event’s speaking itinerary. 

Here are 3 VidCon parties to add to your weekend plans:

🎤 Like Nastya Live
June 28 @ 11.10AM PT
Step into Nastya’s universe as she takes the stage at VidCon to answer all your questions, live! With the world’s #1 creator talent agency at her back, this kid creator is on top of the world.

🪩 Festival Dance Party: Pride Club Renaissance
June 29 @ 7.00PM PT
Grab your disco cowboy hat and get ready to dance your heart out. What better way to celebrate Pride than by living it up with Naomi Hearts and Topher at a Queen Bey-inspired VidCon party?

🍹 The Viral Nation VidCon Happy Hour
June 27 @ 3.00–8.00PM PT
We’re taking over the OC Brewhouse for a VidCon Happy Hour at the exclusive Featured Creator hotel! With a DJ, an open bar, specialty cocktails, appies, exclusive gifts from top brands, and networking opps with industry pros and Featured Creators, this mixer is not to be missed!

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Patreon has announced the arrival of gifted subscriptions along with several other highly anticipated updates. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Snapchat is furthering its mission to protect teens by sending warnings that alert underage users to the potential danger of “suspicious” contacts. (Engadget)
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• Fortnite’s next big brand collaboration will give users the ability to collect skins and swords inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean. (TechRadar)
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• Threads creators from over 100 countries can now view post interactions and replies from users on fediverse apps like Mastadon. (Engadget)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

Global Top 50: Is woodchopping the next big Shorts obsession?

The niche: Social media viewers are wild about woodchopping. Fitness influencer Thoren Bradley has attracted 10 million followers by swinging his axe on TikTok, while YouTube Millionaire Nicole Coenen has established herself as the internet’s favorite lesbian lumberjack.

• Now, another accomplished chopper is swinging her way up the YouTube charts.

The Top Gainer: Marusya Outdoors initially made a name for herself by sharing off-the-grid bushcraft skills and dialogue-free camping Shorts with YouTube viewers. The creator’s most popular videos, however, revolve around her ability to survive with nothing more than a hunk of wood and a sharp weapon.

• Shorts like this ASMR-esque woodchopping clip have earned Marusya hundreds of millions of views; in fact, all nine of her top videos claim more than 200 million views each.
  
  

• That success is no passing phenomenon. In total, Marusya has earned nearly 5.7 billion lifetime views since launching her channel in 2023.

The weekly stats: Marusya’s upward swing has continued throughout June. Over the course of our last weekly count, the survival expert scored a whopping 279.1 million views. That seven-day haul added up to twice as much traffic as the previous week’s total.

• The result: Marusya’s channel climbed to #33 in our latest Global Top 50 chart.

BAN PLANS

Ad agencies are preparing for a TikTok ban. The platform wants to keep things easy-breezy.

The preparations: TikTok might be proceeding with business as usual, but its advertising partners are preparing for the worst.

• While the platform continues to expand its TikTok Shop infrastructure, some firms are allegedly seeking “kill clauses” to escape financial commitments if a ban is upheld. Others are reportedly considering budgetary shifts to allocate additional resources for operations on other platforms.
  
  

• That information comes from Financial Times, which cited higher-ups at several agencies that represent brands on TikTok. An earlier report from GroupM similarly noted that ad revenue is expected to “move to other social-video platforms, such as Meta’s Reels and YouTube’s Shorts…and the creators and influencers currently active on those platforms” in the case of a ban.

The company line: TikTok is taking a more optimistic approach to the future. At Cannes Lions, the platform advised agencies to continue focusing on connecting with viewers. TikTok Global Head of Brand Marketing Sofia Hernandez reinforced that message when she told Campaign that advertisers should consider TikTok as an entertainment platform, not just a social media service.

The context: TikTok’s outward show of confidence might be enough to reassure advertisers (and that’s a big ‘might’), but convincing a judge—and possibly even the Supreme Court—will be a more rigorous challenge. If the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversaries Act (PAFFAA) is upheld in court, ByteDance will be forced to divest TikTok within 270 days or face a U.S.-wide ban of the app.

• The platform and its parent company have mounted a multi-pronged legal defense to prevent that possibility. So far, recent precedent seems to be in their favor—but that hasn’t stopped billionaires from angling to buy TikTok.

WATCH THIS 📺

Toys ‘R’ Us just dropped the “first ever brand film created with Sora”

The film: MrBeast’s brand isn’t the only biz shaking up the toy industry. On June 21, Toys ‘R’ Us took a questionable leap into the future with the release of a short brand film “featuring realistic scenes” generated by OpenAI’s text-to-video AI model, Sora.

• The one-minute video explores the childhood dreams of Toys ‘R’ Us founder Charles Lazarus while serving up the kind of surreal imagery that has become a signature of AI models. Check out the full film 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.e