YouTube Teams up with Local Artists and Creators to Introduce Shorts to Canada

Today YouTube is unveiling a new national campaign to introduce Canadians to the shorter side of YouTube. Shorts—a new way to watch and create short, catchy, easily accessible video content—combines the reach of YouTube with the joy of short-form video. The new campaign will profile Canadian talent, and invite Canadians to watch their favourite creators on the platform, or create content of their own. Shorts first launched last year in India, and is now available in Canada for users to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones.

Created in collaboration with Mint, the campaign is set to the hit track by The Royal Teens “Short Shorts”, remixed by Toronto native and Grammy-nominated producer WondaGurl. A bespoke cast of Canadian creators star in the series of ads alongside WondaGurl, including Charlotte Cardin, a globally recognized singer-songwriter from Montreal, famed gamer Janet Rose (xChocoBars), choreographer to the stars and social media sensation Bizzy Boom, and tastemakers Lexson Millington and Liam Wilkins. Together, the campaign demonstrates the new energy and range that Canadians have at their fingertips on YouTube. Using just a smartphone and the Shorts function in the YouTube app, users can leverage the same platform they know and love, to connect and create short form video content.

“YouTube has always been a place for Canadians to share their voice and build a community. With Shorts, we’re unlocking a new playground of creativity where Canadians can watch, create and connect,” said Alyssa Whited, YouTube’s marketing lead in Canada. “YouTube Shorts is a platform with tools designed for riffing so the creativity can flow between people and culture even more seamlessly, meaning gaming can influence dance, and vice versa.”

The campaign will come to life in two phases, the first a robust integrated campaign featuring a series of digital content that will run on top social networks including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube, as well as DOOH placements across the country that will run until December. Phase two will look to Canadian creators to fuel the momentum and encourage new user participation. This leg of the campaign taps 40+ Canadian creators known for producing culture-shaping, short-form video content, from Tika the Iggy and Tiffy Cooks to Elladj Balde.

“The intention of this campaign is to capture the creativity that short-form video creators have. They can create match cuts on their phone. They create a new dance challenge almost daily. They use music in ways no other generation before has,” says Kim Tarlo, Mint’s Executive Creative Director. “We brought Canadian creators across music, gaming, dance and fashion to highlight the continuous remix and flow of content creation on Shorts, as people take originals and make them their own.”

Mint collaborated closely with director Emma Higgins and production house Fela as well as post-production partners Outsider Editorial, Studio Feather and Grayson to bring the campaign to life. To see more, follow #Shorts and #ShortsCA on social media.