Top 10 Influential YouTube Brands - TopX Ep.45

- Built by “internetainers” and best friends, Rhett McLaughlin and Charles ‘Link’ Neal, this brand has been essential viewing on YouTube since its earliest days. The pair perfected the viral video format basically before viral videos were even a thing, by creating funny, low-budget commercials that really caught on with viewers.

- That brand eventually expanded to include their most popular show, “Good Mythical Morning,” which airs weekdays and features. Rhett and Link answering tough questions, like “will it deep fry?”, updating their YT audience “the mythical beasts” on the world’s craziest hotel rooms, and in general just being big goofs.

- Let’s be clear: “Rhett & Link” isn’t an up-and-coming YouTube Brand: with a combined total of 10 million subs and after being named on Business Insider’s Top 25 Most Creative People in Advertising List in 2012, these guys have official arrived.

- Dude Perfect consists of buddies and college roommates at Texas A&M Coby, Cory, Garrett, Cody, and Tyler. These crazy guys are known for their ridiculous trick shots and appearances on just about every major talk show you can think of.

- It takes a lotta balls to let someone whip a bowling ball directly at your legs, but these guys are fearless. And these guys love all-out stunt wars, challenges, trick shots, insane athletic competitions and more, and the good natured rivalry between them all makes you feel like you’re just another dude… perfect!

- Why has this YouTube brand been enormously influential? Well, it probably has a little something to do with their marketing collaborations with star athletes, country singers, and more. Honestly, pretty much everyone wants to be this group’s best friend.

- Created by Lucas Cruikshank of Columbus, Nebraska, the Fred brand follows the exploits of the perpetual 6-year-old-character as he deals with his anger issues and having a drug addicted, prostitute Mom…among other things. This brand was so popular; in 2009 it became the first to reach a million subs on YouTube.

- With his high-pitched voice and… interesting concept, Fred has proved to be a polarizing figure in the YouTube community. But love him or hate him, he’s spawned albums, merch, a trilogy of movies and more. (removed xref to lonelygirl15)

- The channel itself has now become a channel for kids, by kids, meaning that most of the content features kids asking questions, giving advice, appearing in skits and more. It’s pretty adorable, and worth checking out if you have a young one.

- A concept that dates back to 2002 when co-founder Cenk Uygur (jenk you-grr) hosted a Sirius radio show, the Young Turks is now a weekly liberal news program that breaks down the latest news in politics and pop culture.

- The channel has multiple segments, whether it’s the main show “The Young Turks,” where the hosts discuss a particular topic in the news, something like “Final Judgment,” a daily show created for Facebook where a Young Turks host provides his/hers final take on the day’s biggest news in a few minutes, or their partnership with Al Jazeera’s digital channel AJ+. Honestly, there’s something for everyone.

- Overall, The Young Turks tackle serious issues, but they do so in a lighthearted, informative and ingenious way, making the news more than bearable to hear.

- Machine and Cinema. Behold: Machinima. Founded in 2000, this gaming network revolutionized the YouTube platform by pioneering the multi-channel network – and with over 5,000 partners, and a multi-million dollar partnership with Google, this brand is only getting bigger.

- You can find trailers for the newest videogames, podcasts, top 10 lists, a news show and more – and with a publishing schedule of multiple videos a day there’s plenty of happiness at this online playground.

- One of the treasures of this channel was the “Inside Gaming” series, which became a big deal for serious gamers in recent years, as a crew of gamers played a variety of games. However in January 2015, the crew announced they were leaving for bigger and better things. That said, you can still find hundreds and hundreds of episodes on the channel. That’s the beauty of the interwebs!

- Back in 2010, Michael Stevens realized that YouTubers had an urge to know the strangest facts of science, and after coming up with the name “Vsauce” through a fake name generator, he stopped uploading videos to his personal channel “pooplicker888” and got to work on a new project.

- The VSauce brand consists of numerous channels: VSauce, VSauce2, VSauce3, and the cleverly titled “WeSauce,” which features the work of fans.

- Stevens educates his subscribers with interesting facts, as he tackles every day questions with a clear voice, like ‘Is Earth actually flat?’ to more scientifically intense theories like ‘the Tarski Paradox.’ He also shares his wisdom by speaking at TED engagements, as he opens up our minds and allows us to see the world in a whole new light.

- Created by Peter Shukoff (shoo-kov) and Lloyd Ahlquist (al-kwist), Epic Rap Battles of History or “ERB” pits historical figures against each other in the proverbial ring, as they engage in comedic warfare.

-They school us with knowledge as we watch our favorite historical heroes school each other with dope rhymes. You never know what kind of battles will come up, or who will star in the videos, as it’s attracted YT stars and memorable mash-ups such as Steve Jobs VS Bill Gates.

- The first rap battles cost approximately 50 American dollars to produce, but 12 million subs later, this brand now has the budget for more professional productions.

- The YouTubers behind this hilarious brand are brothers Rafi (raffy) and Benny Fine, from Brooklyn, New York and they’re widely regarded as the mavericks of YouTube. In other words, they utilized the platform to promote their work that existed pre-2005. You know, the dark ages…

- Their main channel features the ever-popular ‘React’ series which films kids, teens, adults and senior citizens reacting to pop culture news, trends and videos, all with hilarious and sometimes sweet responses.

- Given their knowledge and expertise of how YouTube works as a media platform, the Fine Bros have branched out with numerous channels such as the newly created React channel, as well as a series where they spoil popular TV shows and movies and a transmedia series titled ‘MyMusic.’

- In 2002, a teenager named Anthony Padilla (puh-dee-ya) created smosh.com. Yeah, I now what you’re thinking, (troll voice) “YouTube wasn’t around in 2002, WatchMojo,” and you’re right, it wasn’t – but like so many digital entrepreneurs, Padilla and his pal Ian Hecox (hee-cox) saw an opportunity and eventually established a Smosh YouTube channel when YouTube did roll around.

- They’ve since gone on to create 10 Smosh-related channels, with seven of them active today, including a let’s play channel titled ‘SmoshGames’, and a personal one that follows the life of Padilla.

- These guys are responsible for numerous YouTube milestones, and they’ve even created the Smosh Games Alliance to allow fans to get in on the ad revenue. Smosh is simply everywhere. In fact, these guys even starred in their own film, which hit theatres on July 23, 2015.


Before we unveil our top pick, let’s take a look at a few honorable mentions:

HM1: Epic Meal Time
youtube.com/EpicMealTime

HM2: Pentatonix
youtube.com/PTXofficial

HM3: Cinema Sins
youtube.com/CinemaSins

HM4: Screen Junkies
youtube.com/screenjunkies

- Thanks to the vision of Salman Khan, a world of YouTube students are able educate themselves through the teachings of Khan Academy. Khan has three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, commonly known as MIT, so he’s definitely got the credentials.

- Early on, Khan Academy focused on mathematics, but as more YouTubers subscribed, the courses were expanded, in large part to the contributions of Bill Gates and various organizations around the world. After all, Khan Academy is a 501 non-for-profit organization.

- No, Khan Academy doesn’t quite have 10 million subscribers like other notable channels. In fact, it’s not even halfway to five million, but as the world becomes busier and people are discovering more efficient ways to learn, this YouTube brand is on the verge of transforming the essence of online education as we know it.