Salesforce partners with Mr. Beast to launch a new (and million-dollar) viral challenge during Superbowl LX

If you regularly follow our content, you will already know who Mr Beast is: one of the most-followed individuals on social media worldwide (second only to Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi). He is renowned for his extraordinarily daring—and often, excessively so—viral challenges on YouTube, which typically feature a substantial monetary reward.

This content model has attracted the attention of Salesforce, which has decided to leverage his social influence and has taken advantage of the immense audience of the Super Bowl to launch a new viral challenge.

Would you like to win one million dollars?

The idea is remarkably simple: solve a riddle and win one million dollars. The method for solving it, however, is not as straightforward.

In the advertisement, which aired during the Super Bowl, Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. Mr Beast, informs viewers that he has locked the enormous prize inside a vault that can only be opened by the individual who solves the clues he will be scattering throughout his videos. In fact, there are already three related videos available for this initiative (the first was published six days ago), which together already boast over ten million views. Additionally, the Super Bowl commercial itself has nearly reached one million views on YouTube in less than eight hours.

An initiative that goes beyond the anecdotal

To support this initiative, Salesforce has created a dedicated website, where the promotion’s terms are explained (unfortunately, participation is not available if you reside outside the United States, Canada, or Mexico) and you may submit your answer to the challenge.

However, this effort is not solely an advertisement aimed at increasing general public awareness of Salesforce. In the video, Mr Beast himself explains that Slackbot, Salesforce’s artificial intelligence assistant (recall that Salesforce acquired Slack in 2021), is essential for users to decipher the puzzle and claim the prize. Slackbot is designed to assist Slack users by reviewing their work, searching for past messages, and locating company information.

In any case, it is not expected that anyone will solve the riddle immediately. Salesforce has clarified that it will release additional videos in the coming days and that the clues needed to crack the puzzle are “everywhere”—from videos to websites and even in the real world. Whenever you see Mr Beast involved in a Salesforce initiative, a clue may be present.

Beyond this, it is interesting to note how Salesforce, as a B2B company, has elected to employ the language of YouTube viral entertainment to connect with a mass audience. Indeed, by associating with MrBeast, they are humanizing their brand and leveraging his credibility among both younger and more mature audiences.

He is a figure with a reach far exceeding the scope typically attributed to influencers of this nature. Furthermore, MrBeast’s followers—many of whom are currently in their twenties and thirties—will become the managers and business leaders of the years to come. By aligning its brand with one of their key social media figures, Salesforce aims to be perceived as both innovative and approachable in the minds of the next generation of buyers.

Additionally, consider that with few exceptions, a traditional Super Bowl commercial is quickly forgotten after being viewed. By contrast, a MrBeast challenge generates millions of YouTube views in the days both preceding and following the game, as well as ongoing discussion on social media (with people sharing their theories regarding the clues).

In fact, and while we cannot confirm its accuracy, Salesforce itself has announced a sudden disruption in its services: “Due to the overwhelming response to the Million Dollar Puzzle, an issue has arisen: some registration emails are not arriving in inboxes as expected. Our teams are actively working with the leading email service providers to resolve this. The entire puzzle has not yet been revealed, so no one has the correct answer at this time. No one is missing clues, progress, or the opportunity to participate. Please be sure to check your spam or promotions folder.”

Image: YouTube