Ambidextr Media

A short browse on YouTube and you’ll quickly notice the abundance of challenge videos and stunts. “Last one to leave the circle wins 1,000,000 dollars” or “We try every fast food in the country–” titles like these have become more widespread. And it’s all thanks to one name.

MrBeast

MrBeast is a name that needs no introduction once you’re on the internet long enough or have a child. Mr Beast, or James Donaldson, rose to fame on the video streaming platform in 2017. He became famous for his increasingly outrageous stunts and copious amounts of money he gives away in his videos. With immense success, pushing Donaldson into being the most subscribed on the platform, everyone was bound to follow suit.

You might have seen some of his stunts, or maybe you’ve seen copycats. It’s hard to avoid when the platform pushes his content even to new users. Maybe you’ve heard of him giving away free cars or recreating the popular Netflix series Squid Game.  

Now, MrBeast didn’t invent this format. Though he was the one to popularize it, brands like Red Bull have been doing crazy stunts for years to promote their products. However, this content creation and advertising method has become mainstream because of MrBeast. 

People are beginning to think that to grab their audience’s attention, they have to do something spectacular and bold. It’s coming to a point where simple billboards or commercials simply don’t do it anymore. You have to try everything, spend copious amounts of money, or giant displays of wealth and skill to capture and retain your consumers’ attention.

“‘Yun lang?” and oversaturation

Imagine being surrounded by grown men, yelling into a camera with big, bright colors from corner to corner. As consumers, they’re bound to get desensitized to the countless bouts for their attention. There will come a point where all these flashing lights and loud noises blend into one another. It becomes white noise as the market becomes oversaturated with the same thing done the same way. 

And in a way, it becomes expected to constantly break expectations and go bigger and bigger. People begin to tune in simply to see what you do next. And when someone fails to reach that expectation, deliberately or not, the audience can’t help but feel disappointed. On platforms where the algorithm rules all, disappointment could quickly turn into irrelevancy. 

What do you do when you reach the peak?

The people doing it are the ones who come out on top. Pushing the boundaries with more and more extravagant stunts means that consumers will naturally compare among brands. 

However, there will come a point where creators have to step back and wonder, “Where do I go from here?” What do you do after you’ve tried every fast-food chicken sandwich? What do you do after you’ve spent a million pesos on extravagant stunts? Spend more? It’s not sustainable. Even Donaldson himself admits that he loses money in his videos. Yet the numbers speak for themselves. 

Of course, breaking boundaries is a goal for many creatives. It’s a moment of pride to be able to captivate audiences in what a person considers their best. However, the long-term may not be so feasible for those unlike MrBeast, a millionaire. 

Blog by Nicole Samson