Look ma, I’m on top of the world…

If you don’t know who MrBeast is, well you probably don’t have a seven-year-old living in your house monopolising control of the remote. But he’s actually kind of a big deal. Like huge huge deal.

He’s the most Subscribed-to YouTuber on the face 0f the planet with a combined view count of around 70 billion – real name James Stephen “Jimmy” Donaldson has carved out a lucrative career from creating compelling, click-courting content.

Beast mode

His videos range from altruistic social experiments such as “Tipping Pizza Delivery Guys $10,000” and “I Gave A Homeless Man A Home”, to competitive giveaways like his famous recreation of an IRL Squid Game (just sans the brutal murders).

He’s also launched several food brands including a chain of burger restaurants (which you can order via Deliveroo in Dubai) and Feastables – a viral chocolate collection.

MrBeast in Dubai

But it’s his latest stunt that’s really sent his Dubai fans into a state of agitated froth. He’s now just the eighth person to scale the full height of the Burj Khalifa, right up to the end of the stick bit. That puts him in such prestigious vertiginous company as Will Smith, Tom Cruise, our very own Sheikh Hamdan, and that pretend Emirates cabin crew member who told us the UK was off the red list. *shivers in Covid*.

Duty and the Beast

But why did he climb all that way? In a clip posted to his social media accounts, he tells us to “go watch the video I just uploaded [on YouTube]” for the answer. Which we dutifully did.

The Burj Khalifa clambering is part of a larger video that compares (travel) experiences ranging from USD1 to USD500,000.

If you’re wondering what the USD1 experience was – it’s riding a camel for two minutes. Which feels like an unlikely transaction, but let’s say it’s artistic license. Other expeditions in the piece include hot air balloon dining for USD10,000; a submarine safari for USD50,000; and a zero gravity flight at USD250,000.

Middle Beast

The top-end half-million US dollars experience was entirely based in Dubai. It begins with MrBeast et entourage standing on top of the Dubai Frame. The rest of their Dubai itinerary included such highlights as a stay at a mega-luxe Atlantis, The Palm suite; racing supercars around Dubai Autodrome; giving a supercar away to a fan at the Abu Dhabi NBA game; eating at Krasota; a dip in Aura Skypool; and sky-diving.

The grand finalé was of course the ascent up the Burj Khalifa which required a lot more manual climbing than MrBeast was prepared for. The streaming star also confessed to having a chronic fear of heights. So it probably wasn’t the most centring experience, at least initially. But Dubai did seem to make a strong impression on our friend Jimmy, so hopefully he’ll be back for another video.

We’ve got some ideas for content concepts if it is on the cards. ‘What’s faster, walking or driving to Sharjah in rush hour?’ ‘Escape Madinat Jumeirah without taking a wrong turn’, ‘Finding your car in Dubai Mall carpark without doing the keys in the air ‘beep beep’ thing’, or the classic ‘I gave a Dubai journalist USD1 million to spend at Namshi’.

Images: YouTube