YouTube Shorts Launches Global Ad Campaign Starring BTS, The Weeknd, Camila Cabello, Doja Cat

YouTube is showing off its “shorter side” in a global ad campaign featuring music artists like BTS, The Weeknd, Camila Cabello, and Doja Cat.

The campaign, a mix of 15- and 30-second spots encouraging users to make and watch content on YouTube’s TikTok competitor, Shorts, will run across YouTube, YouTube TV, and other social media platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and Reddit.

“In one of our biggest brand marketing campaigns to date, we are leaning into ‘The shorter side of YouTube’ to show just how easy and fun it is to watch and make YouTube Shorts,” Jodi Ropert, YouTube’s VP of marketing, said in a statement.

The campaign is meant to specifically highlight how Shorts users can make clips using background audio sampled from millions of videos uploaded to YouTube main–including music videos from the popular artists YouTube tapped for this marketing push.

Campaign spots point out a Create button that folks who are using YouTube on mobile devices will see below videos that are able to be sampled.

YouTube’s debuting this campaign just a week after officially launching its $100 million Shorts Fund, which it says will compensate thousands of creators making original content on Shorts. Eligible creators will receive monthly payments ranging from $100 to $10,000, based on viewership of and engagement with their Shorts videos.

Shorts launched in India in 2020 and in the U.S. earlier this year. Last month, it rolled out to every country where YouTube main is available, meaning it’s now live in more than 100 countries.

YouTube said in its Q2 earnings that Shorts now generates more than 15 billion views per day.