How to advertise on Cold Ones: what it costs, who buys, and how to book

Cold Ones sells its host-read inventory direct, quoted per campaign rather than off a public rate card. Spotsnow attributes roughly 87% of the show's tracked ads to direct response, so the feed runs on codes and links, not brand billboards. Its anchor advertiser, Mint Mobile, has run roughly 15 to 18 ads on the show. For a buyer, that mix reads clearly: this is a place to test coded offers against a large, young audience and watch the response. Spotsnow estimates all of this from tracked advertiser activity, not audience surveys.

Here's the full profile on Cold Ones, if you want the numbers alongside this read.

Why Cold Ones is built for host-read direct response

Cold Ones is hosted by Chad Roberts (Anything4Views) and Max Stanley (Maxmoefoe), Australian creators who came up in the early YouTube scene and now run a channel with more than 3.27 million subscribers. It sits in comedy, an internet-culture talk show wrapped around drinking games and long-form guest interviews.

Spotsnow attributes about 87% of the show's tracked ads to direct response, which tells you what the format is doing. Codes, custom URLs, and clean offers carry the read because they can be measured. Spotsnow estimates the show reaches roughly 1,770,000 listeners (an estimate, not an audited count). The audience skews young and mostly male, middle-income, and centered in the US with a strong tail in the UK and Canada.

What makes a host-read work here is the way the hosts play with attention. The bits are long, chaotic, and often turn the ad itself into the joke, so the audience doesn't tune out at the break. That sustained attention is exactly what a host endorsement borrows. When Chad and Max hand off to a sponsor, the listener is still in the room.

The influence shows up in the engagement. Spotsnow data shows an Apple Podcasts rating of 4.9 across roughly 1,100 to 1,215 ratings, with about 463,000 Instagram followers and 3,270,000 YouTube subscribers. The reach is broad across the feed and the video channel, so a brand buying here is buying an audience that follows these hosts wherever they post.

Who is advertising on Cold Ones

The roster mixes big DTC and tech names with endemic gaming and energy brands, plus the hosts' own products. Recognizable buyers include Mint Mobile, Gamer Supps, NordVPN, Shopify, and AG1.

The anchor advertisers, broken down

Mint Mobile

Mint Mobile sells prepaid wireless plans on the T-Mobile network. Spotsnow shows it running roughly 15 to 18 ads on the show, with an estimated total spend of over $200K, classified as direct response. A budget carrier aimed at price-conscious young buyers fits a young, mostly male audience that's shopping for a cheaper phone plan.

Gamer Supps

Gamer Supps makes zero-sugar energy and nootropic supplements aimed at gamers. Spotsnow estimates its total spend on the show at over $200K, all host-read direct response. It's the cleanest endemic fit on the roster: a gaming-adjacent audience that already drinks energy formulas, sold by hosts who came from that world.

Cool Shirts

Cool Shirts sells graphic apparel and novelty tees. Spotsnow estimates its total spend on the show at over $90K, host-read and direct response. It's a low-cost impulse buy that thrives on comedic reads, which is why it survives as a running bit rather than a straight endorsement.

The outlier: Mint Mobile as a reach buy

Mint Mobile is worth a second look because it doesn't only run host reads here. Alongside its endorsements, it also drops produced spots into the feed, which means a large telecom brand treats Cold Ones as both an attribution channel and a straight reach buy. That's a signal a big advertiser can make more than one objective work on this show.

All spend figures are Spotsnow estimates.

Why comedy brands cluster here

The advertiser mix isn't random. Telecom, gaming energy, VPNs, and apparel all chase the same thing: a young, mostly male internet-culture audience that trusts the hosts enough to try a code. Chad and Max built their credibility over years of edgy YouTube, so when they endorse something, it lands as a recommendation from people the audience already follows, not an interruption. And because the show openly mocks the ad format, a coded offer that survives the joke actually converts. That's the bet these brands are making: attention plus a measurable link, on a feed where the audience is in on it.

How your ad could sound

Shirtz.cool host-read on Cold Ones

This Shirtz.cool read is a good template for the show. The hook is native and funny, breaking the fourth wall about the whole idea of an ad. The hosts push the URL, then Max cuts in with "There's no read." That personal, in-joke framing is exactly the register a host-read borrows: it feels like part of the bit, not a break from it.

What's worth fixing is the offer. The URL gets buried inside the gag, and there's no code, no urgency, and no clear reason to buy now. If a brand ran this, it would want a short, memorable link the hosts repeat once cleanly, plus a single reason to act. The comedy can stay. The call to action just needs one clean landing.

View what a great sample ad looks like here.

What makes a show like this convert

1. Format holds attention. The long, comedic bits keep listeners through the break, so a host endorsement lands instead of getting skipped.
2. Host credibility. Chad and Max carry years of internet-culture trust, so a recommendation reads as theirs, not the brand's.
3. The audience matches the offer. A young, mostly male, US-centered base is exactly who telecom, gaming energy, and VPN brands want to reach.
4. Repeat buying proves the math. Mint Mobile's run of roughly 15 to 18 ads tells you the response justified coming back, more than once.

Cold Ones in a nutshell

Cold Ones reaches an estimated 1.77 million listeners who skew young, mostly male, and US-centered, with a strong international tail. Mint Mobile, Gamer Supps, and Cool Shirts already buy here, mostly on host-read endorsements that lean into the show's comedy. It's sold direct and quoted per campaign, not off a rate card. If you're a direct-response brand with a code and a landing page, this feed is built for you.