It’s Tuesday and a social media-savvy faction of Tekken fans has at last captured the attention of producer Katsuhiro Harada. Their request: a Waffle House battle stage.

STEP UP TO THE PLATE 🍽️

Rhett & Link’s Sporked caters to beverage detectives and niche food fans

The site: Whether they’re tuning into taste tests or watching Rhett & Link’s viral Will It? series, it’s safe to say that Good Mythical Morning fans love food. That’s why, two years ago, the Mythical team launched Sporked: a site dedicated to all things edible.

• According to Editor-in-Chief Justine Sterling, team members expected Sporked’s bread-and-butter to be the kind of product rankings and hot takes that have earned Mythical nearly 20 million subscribers.
  
  

• Instead, Sterling says “personality-driven breaking news” and “single-product reviews have done really well” for Sporked.

The current status: Those offerings have helped Sporked attract 1.7 million monthly page views and nearly 300,000 multiplatform followers. The site’s five-person team is led by Sterling, who previously served as Senior Digital Editor of Food & Wine and Director of Branded Content at The Foundry.

The audience: From Gen A Roblox fans to health-conscious Oreo lovers, food-and-bev-focused creator ventures have a knack for tapping into niche audiences—but Sporked’s readership is still something of a standout. According to Sterling, an underground “world” of soda sleuths “has really started to open up” to the team:

The bigger picture: For creators looking to launch their own ventures, Sporked’s success demonstrates the power of appealing to niche audiences—especially when building upon a pre-existing fanbase.

• Sterling says Sporked plans to continue catering to its unique readership by growing its newsletter as “a place to reach people and give them the content they’re looking for directly.”

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Supercar Blondie is building on the momentum of her viral YouTube channel by launching an auction house for “hypercars and other expensive toys.” (Tubefilter)
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• After months of significant subsidies, TikTok Shop raised U.S. seller fees from 2% to 6% yesterday—an increase that will reach 8% in July. (Wired)
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• Discord has introduced Sponsored Quests, a video game-centric advertising format that marks the end of the platform’s years-long mission to eschew ads. (Ars Technica)
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• Bluesky celebrated April Fools’ Day by debuting its very own version of Shorts. The catch: these cut-offs are made of fabric, not pixels. (The Verge)

DATA • GOSPEL STATS 📈

Top 3 Branded Videos: STEM creators show fans how the sausage gets made

It’s no secret that YouTube viewers are fascinated by the inner workings of…well, everything. From blacksmithing to roofing, channels can score massive view counts by going behind the scenes of major builds

Gospel Stats Brand Report: This week’s top branded videos tapped into that viral phenomenon by customizing wheelchairs, delving into master sword-making, and refurbishing celebrity cars. Here’s how Gospel’s latest ranking shook out:

🥇 Mark Rober x Crunchlabs: You’ve Never Seen A Wheelchair Like This
For his most recent build, Mark Rober teamed up with a cool kid named Cash to design a truly unparalleled wheelchair—the kind with built-in Nerf guns and disco balls. The former NASA engineer also used the opportunity to promote Crunchlabs, his science-in-a-box subscription biz.

🥈 Veritasium x Henson Shaving: How The Most Expensive Swords In The World Are Made
Veritasium’s latest viral hit appealed to blade enthusiasts in more ways than one. After diving into the making of a $105 million sword, Derek Muller introduced viewers to “the katanas of the shaving world”: Henson razors.

🥉 Mat Armstrong x carVertical: I BOUGHT MARCUS RASHFORDS WRECKED ROLLS ROYCE WRAITH
Car enthusiast Mat Armstrong might be willing to buy a wrecked Rolls Royce with a star-powered past, but carVertical knows most buyers don’t want an automobile with history. That message came through in Armstrong’s branded video, which drove home the importance of researching pre-owned vehicles via carVertical before making a purchase.

FYI: This report is just a snapshot of Gospel Stats’ treasure trove of data. Check out the full site here for in-depth info on branded partnerships, rising YouTube channels, and more.

WATCH THIS 📺

Razer’s April Fools’ joke could be an AI horror story—or proof of concept for toast-loving gamers

The prank: Every year on April 1, brands do their very best to hoodwink consumers without shaking up the stock market or alienating fans. Some accomplish that task by debuting real gimmicks, while others promote products they assume (or pray) no one will take at face value.

• Brands like 7-Eleven and Razer fell into the latter camp this year. And while we’re not lining up to gulp down hot dog-flavored soda, we have to ask: would a gaming chair that offers buttered toast and head massages really be so bad?
  
  

• According to Razer, the answer is a definitive yes. Check out the brand’s full April Fools’ Day ad here to find out why.

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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.