
With 39 million views, Netflix’s “Wednesday” took the top spot in YouTube’s Cannes 2023 ad rankings, a roundup of the best global video ads since last year’s festival.
Leading trends in video ads. Music (Telecom Egypt, Qatar Airways, Orange Egypt, Burger King), authenticity (Peacock, Netflix, HBO Max/The Last of Us), cross-generational appeal (Bulgari, Peacock) and excitement (HBO Max, Bulgari and Qatar Airways) were the hooks that lifted the most popular video ads to earn more than 214 million video views, according to YouTube.
Why we care YouTube is the most popular streaming service in the United States on TV screens, with an estimated 150 million unique viewers. It is also a profitable platform for creators. Video ads are still a great way to get views by telling stories that connect with your target audience.
The 10 most popular global video ads on YouTube
Here were the 10 most popular video ads globally from June 2022 to May 2023, along with the number of views they got since publication.
“Ad rank is determined using some of YouTube’s strongest viewer choice signals, including factors such as organic and paid views, watch time and audience retention (i.e. the amount of a video people watched),” YouTube noted.
10. Burger King: Whopper Whopper (expanded)
9. Peacock: Kevin Hart can’t stop bashing “old” celebrities. #shorts
9.1 million views
8. Bulgari: Unexpected Wonders – a film by Paolo Sorrentino
9.3 million views
7. Orange Egypt: 2022 World Cup campaign – Football crazy
19 million views.
6. Galaxy S23 Ultra: Official Presentation Movie
5. Qatar Airways: CHAMPIONS – Official FIFA World Cup Song featuring DJ Rodge and Cheb Khaled
23 million views
4. Max: The Last of Us
24 million views
3. Apple: Presentation of the iPhone 14 Pro
26 million views
2. Telecom Egypt: WE Summer Campaign 2022 – Akram Hosny
33 million views
1. Netflix: Wednesday Releases Thing In New York
You deeper YouTube Year in Review: Top 10 Ads of 2022
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About the author
Danny Goodwin has been the editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX since 2022. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as a senior editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Expert (SME) program. Also helps schedule US SMX events. Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He was previously executive editor of Search Engine Journal (2017-2022), editor-in-chief of Momentology (2014-2016), and editor from Search. Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at numerous major search conferences and virtual events, and has brought his expertise to bear in a wide range of publications and podcasts.