California ‘takes over’ YouTube in $3.7-million video blitz

California wants more visitors -- and is “taking over” YouTube in a big way to lure them to vacation in the Golden State.

Users in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Britain on Friday will see videos atop the YouTube page -- one every hour for 24 hours -- that showcase California and people who love it as part of a “24 Hours, 24 Dreams” tourism campaign.

The partnership with Google will show videos of California dreamers. Footage includes Band of Horses singing amid the letters of the Hollywood Sign, skateboarding pro Bob Burnquist on a floating ramp in Lake Tahoe, and Chef Ludo Lefebvre, king of the pop-up restaurants.

The “quirky, cool, inspiring, adventurous” collection of videos is part of a bigger $3.7-million Dream 365 pitch. It’s out to snag “incremental travelers,” those who right now are planning a spring break or summer trip but aren’t necessarily thinking about California, said Lynn Carpenter, vice president of marketing for Visit California.

“They show people just doing things in different ways,” she said of the social media campaign expected to generate 135 million website impressions during the 24 hours it’s on YouTube.

And, she said, it’s a marketing move that steps away from the “control the message” thinking in favor of more authentic experiences.

“We’re letting a lot of other storytellers tell our story, to show it in their own words and their own style,” she said.

The YouTube videos began at 9 p.m. PST Thursday.

Mary.Forgione@latimes.com
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