ElevenLabs Offers $50,000 for the World’s Catchiest AI-Made Ad Jingle, Entries Close November 1
ElevenLabs is splitting $100,000 across 11 winners for 15 to 45 second ads for made-up brands, built around an original jingle made in ElevenCreative. Entries close November 1 at 11:59 PM PT (1:29 PM IST, November 2).
ElevenLabs is offering $50,000 to whoever makes the catchiest ad for a brand that does not exist. The voice AI company’s competition, officially called The Search for the World’s Catchiest Ad, splits $100,000 across 11 winners. Every entry has to be a 15 to 45 second ad built around an original jingle generated in ElevenCreative, the company’s audio and video editor.
Entries close on November 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. That is 1:29 PM IST on November 2. Winners will be announced on X on November 10, according to the official rules.
ElevenLabs first posted the contest on its blog on October 1 and pushed it harder on October 5. That day’s post from the main ElevenLabs account on X had passed 800,000 views by Wednesday afternoon IST.
What ElevenLabs is asking for
The brief on the competition page is short: invent a fictional brand and make an ad “that gets stuck in people’s heads.” It can be funny, strange or beautiful. ElevenLabs suggests “a snack, a sneaker, a smart toaster” as starting points.
The ElevenCreative contest hub adds three made-up sample brands, including 1-800-DUMPLING, a 24-hour dumpling hotline.
The jingle is the one fixed tool requirement. The rules say it must be generated in ElevenCreative, and you prove it with a public ElevenCreative share link. Using ElevenCreative for visuals, voice and sound effects is encouraged but not required. It does help your score, because the judges rate how much of the toolkit you used.
Prizes: $100,000 across 11 winners
| Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1st (Grand Prize) | $50,000 |
| 2nd | $20,000 |
| 3rd | $10,000 |
| 4th to 11th (8 winners) | $2,500 each |
| Total | $100,000 |
All 11 winners also get time with ElevenLabs. The campaign page calls it a 30-minute 1:1 with the company’s Creative Production team. The official rules describe it as an interview for the AI Creative Producer role and say plainly that it “is not an offer or guarantee of employment.”
Prizes are paid through ElevenLabs’ payment partner PartnerStack. ElevenLabs covers PartnerStack’s fees, so the platform does not take a cut. ElevenLabs says it will aim to pay within 60 days of receiving a winner’s completed paperwork.
How the ads will be judged
The rules list four weighted criteria, each scored from 1 to 5:
- Catchiness (35%): “Is the jingle stuck in our heads?” ElevenLabs calls this “the one that matters most.”
- Concept (25%): Is the idea original and clever, and does the product feel like something people wish existed?
- Craft (25%): How well you used ElevenCreative across voice, music and sound design. More of the toolkit, used well, scores higher.
- Cohesion (15%): Do the product, jingle, visuals and voice work as one ad?
Your written note on how you used ElevenCreative also counts toward the score. Judging runs in three rounds. Screeners check entries for rule compliance as they arrive, then a panel scores them from November 2 to 8. ElevenLabs verifies the top 11 on November 9 and 10.
How to enter
- Make the ad. It must be new, 15 to 45 seconds long and 16:9. It has to show your fictional product’s name, image and logo, with the ElevenCreative watermark in the bottom-right corner.
- Post it publicly. Use both hashtags, #TheWorldsCatchiestAd and #ElevenCreativeCompetitionVol1, and tag @elevencreative and @elevenlabs where the platform allows. Posts must stay live until judging ends on November 10.
- Fill in the entry form. It asks for a link to the raw video on Frame.io or Google Drive, a public ElevenCreative share link for the jingle, a link to your post, a description of the ad and a description of how you used ElevenCreative.
Check the platform rules carefully, because ElevenLabs’ own pages disagree on them. The official rules and the contest hub ask for at least two platforms. The campaign page says three. The lists of eligible platforms also differ, but X and YouTube appear on every one. Posting to X, YouTube and either Instagram or TikTok meets every version.
The ad must be voiced or subtitled in English, though ads with no dialogue at all are accepted. You can enter solo or as a team, and there is no limit on entries. Each one must be “substantially different” from your others and needs its own posts and form.
Do you need to pay for ElevenCreative?
No. The rules say in capitals that no purchase or paid subscription is needed to enter or win. The campaign page still pushes the Creator plan, listed at $22 a month with the first month at $11. It says that plan includes 121,000 credits a month and commercial use rights.
According to that page, ElevenCreative bundles more than 50 image and video models, original music from ElevenMusic, more than 5,000 voices, sound effects generated from text and a browser-based editor called Studio. ElevenLabs does not say whether a free account has enough credits for a finished ad, so test that early.
Who can enter, and what you give up
The contest is global but not open everywhere. You must be at least 18, or the age of majority where you live if that is higher. Residents of Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and the annexed regions of Ukraine are excluded, as is anyone on the US OFAC sanctions list. So are government employees and officials and their family members, and ElevenLabs staff.
You keep ownership of your ad. By entering, though, you give ElevenLabs a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive worldwide license to use it to promote the contest and its products, including in paid promotion. That applies to every entry, not just winners. The rules also bar entrants from making public statements that “disparage or reflect negatively on ElevenLabs.”
Real brands, logos, characters and the likenesses of real people are off limits without permission. The one exception is for agencies, which may enter ads for a real client if they have the client’s written permission. Children’s voices, including AI-generated ones, lead to disqualification.
| Question | What ElevenLabs’ pages say |
|---|---|
| Paid plan required? | No, confirmed in the official rules |
| Must every element be made in ElevenCreative? | No. Only the jingle; the rest is encouraged and scored |
| Who owns the ad? | The entrant, with a perpetual license to ElevenLabs |
| Is the winners’ interview a job offer? | No, an interview opportunity only |
| Who the judges are | Not stated beyond “a panel of judges selected by ElevenLabs” |
| Whether free credits cover a full ad | Not stated |
What it means for Indian creators
India is not on the excluded list, so Indian residents aged 18 or over can enter. The deadline in IST is 1:29 PM on Monday, November 2. US clocks fall back from daylight time early on November 1, so the cutoff falls in Pacific Standard Time. Winners are due at 9:30 AM PST on November 10, which is 11:00 PM IST.
Ads in Hindi, Tamil or any other language qualify if they carry English subtitles. Keep the government exclusion in mind, though. Anyone employed by a national, state or local government body, or related to someone who is, should read that clause before entering.
Prizes are paid in US dollars. The rules say non-US winners may need to file a W-8BEN form and are responsible for local taxes, bank and currency fees and any foreign exchange reporting. ElevenLabs can also withhold part of a prize to meet US tax law. Indian winners should speak to a tax adviser before the money lands.
Practical tips straight from the brief
- Build the ad around the jingle from the start. Catchiness is worth 35% and cohesion another 15%.
- Make voice and sound effects in ElevenCreative too, since craft is scored on how much of the toolkit you use.
- Write the “how I used ElevenCreative” description properly, because it feeds into judging.
- Set your jingle link to public and leave your posts up through November 10. Screeners check both.
ElevenLabs is a voice company. A jingle contest that rewards ElevenCreative use is also a way to promote its push into music and video. Rivals keep raising money too: Fish Audio recently raised a $52M seed round, and image models like Black Forest Labs’ FLUX 3 Image keep getting better. Most big AI prize pools so far, like OpenAI Build Week, have targeted developers. This one is aimed squarely at creatives.
FAQ
What is the deadline for the ElevenLabs ad competition?
November 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time, which is 1:29 PM IST on November 2. Winners will be announced on November 10 at 9:30 AM PST (11:00 PM IST) on ElevenLabs’ X account and the competition website.
Do I have to pay to enter?
No. The official rules say no purchase or paid ElevenLabs subscription is needed to enter or win. Any credits or upgrades you buy are your own cost.
Can people in India enter?
Yes, if they are 18 or older and don’t fall under an exclusion such as working for a government body. India is not on the list of excluded countries.
Does the whole ad have to be made with ElevenLabs tools?
Only the jingle must be generated in ElevenCreative. You can use other tools for the rest, but craft is scored on how much of ElevenCreative you use and how well.
Can I make an ad for a real brand?
Not as an individual entrant. The brand must be fictional, with no real trademarks or logos. Agencies can enter work for a real client only with that client’s written authorization.