Table 1 Frequency of advertisements for popular global brands of tobacco, alcohol, beverages and fast food restaurants on the 20 most popular YouTube sites
Global brand rank (n = 100)Brand (search term)Type of productTotal videos containing brand (search term)Number of overt ads in top 20 most viewed videosNumber of branded videos* (possible ad) in top 20 most viewed videosTotal ads and possible ads in top 20 most viewed videosTotal number of unique views for ads and possible ads
1Coca-ColaBeverage20 6005131838 565 731
8McDonald’sFast food64004131723 791 432
10MarlboroTobacco359001212854 237
24NescafeBeverage12609817666 777
26PepsiBeverage23 2001451922 482 479
30BudweiserAlcohol45301801811 332 892
60KFCFast food74101671 022 148
74Pizza HutFast food449095141 802 449
85Moet & ChandonAlcohol8321820141 456
87HennessyAlcohol972033812 877
88StarbucksBeverage10 000210122 356 049
91SmirnoffAlcohol30908089 701 916
Total85 6257293165113 530 443
  • *Any clips that included brand imagery, footage of an event sponsored by the brand or which discussed (or sang about) the brand were classified as branded videos (ie possible promotional material).