MrBeast sparks debate with “dishonest” sponsor trick so viewers don’t skip YouTube ad

MrBeast has been accused of being “dishonest” in one of his video’s sponsored segments, by using a “trick” to make viewers watch an entire ad.

Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson has been in hot water following his response to grooming allegations against his former employee, Ava Kris Tyson.

Despite the most-subscribed YouTuber promising an investigation over the “disgusting” allegations, his response has been criticized amid claims he censored comments related to the scandal on his videos.

However, it’s not just comments being removed that’s sparking controversy. In the video, ‘Survive 100 Days In Nuclear Bunker, Win $500,000,’ MrBeast has a sponsored ad segment around for Pokemon Go-like mobile game, Monster Hunter Now.

Interesting trick from the latest Mr. Beast video – He uses a progress bar that starts moving quickly, then slows to a crawl in order to make viewers less likely to skip the sponsor segment as they think it will be over quickly pic.twitter.com/srrXyc3wX4

— Rhys Sullivan (@RhysSullivan) August 5, 2024

While sponsored segments are common place, this one is rubbing some people the wrong way, because of how a progress bar on the bottom of the screen is used. It moves quickly at first, giving the illusion that the ad wouldn’t last very long, so viewers are less inclined skip past it.

But, the progress bar eventually slows to a crawl. As X user Rhys Sullivan pointed out, “It hits the half way mark at 10 seconds, then the next half takes 35 seconds to complete.”

The technique sparked a mix of reactions, with some criticizing the strategy, while others were impressed by it.

“That’s dark, tricks the user into wasting precious time,” one viewer slammed.

“Wow he has no respect for his audience at all,” remarked another. “Noticed this and it wasn’t exactly subtle, super dishonest,” said someone else.

Speedrun YouTuber Summoning Salt also had some choice words about the tactic.

“I hate this so much. It comes across as having no respect at all for your viewers. At least try to hide the psychological deception a little bit…” he slammed. “I’ve watched and enjoyed his videos for years but stuff like this really turns me off of them.”

Not everyone was so critical, however, with some applauding the trick, even if they felt it was underhanded.

“This is a good strat,” one remarked.

“Honestly a 900iq strategy lol. I’m sure he has a deal with the Monster Hunter team to be compensated per lead his video creates instead of just a flat amount,” a user replied.

MrBeast has yet to comment on the backlash at the time of writing. The YouTuber’s last social media post was back on July 24 about hiring an independent third party to investigate Ava Kris Tyson.