After Beem made a video with popular creator MrBeast, his channel suddenly exploded.
Beem released a video titled “I Surprised MrBeast With a Custom Car!” in July 2021. Matthew Beem via YouTube
Throughout 2020, Beem released several videos about popular YouTuber MrBeast, who currently has 96 million subscribers and is one of the most viewed and highest paid YouTubers on the platform.
Beem didn’t personally know MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, at the time, but he did use the YouTuber’s name in various video titles, such as “I Covered My House With MrBeast’s Face” and “Asking MrBeast to Give Me $100,000.”
On July 27, 2021, Beem released a YouTube video titled “I Surprised MrBeast with a Custom Car!”
In the video, Beem filmed himself using skills he learned at his job as a car painter to customize a Smart for Donaldson to celebrate the launch of YouTuber’s new burger line, MrBeast Burger.
Beem, who had 19,000 subscribers at the time, according to analytics tracker Social Blade, told Insider he spent a month customizing and wrapping the car and drove it to North Carolina, where he knew Donaldson was based, to to try to convince the YouTuber to accept the car in a video with him.
Beem told Insiders that one of Donaldson’s producers originally turned down a collaboration pitch Beem sent, saying Donaldson was too busy to take the opportunity. Beem said he decided to pursue his video idea to surprise Donaldson and his team.
“I bought a Smart without asking because I figured it’s a lot easier to say no to an idea than to an amazing thing that’s already done.”
When Beem drove to North Carolina, he said he called Donaldson’s producers, who agreed to let him present the car to Donaldson in a video. The video now has 4.5 million views on the platform.
Donaldson officials did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.