As predicted, Hell has indeed frozen over. Yesterday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt sent a tweet hinting at something most people probably never expected to see: a Google Super Bowl ad. But the contents of the ad, and even the product it would be promoting, remained a mystery. Moments ago some 90 million Americans watched as Google showed off the search functionality that it’s famous for, in an ad called Parisian Love. We’ve embedded the ad below.
Yesterday, John Battelle correctly predicted that the ad would be running during the Super Bowl.
Amid dozens of ads focused on cars, beer, and busty women, the Google spot definitely took a different approach: it tells a love story through a series of search queries. The tale begins with a query for “study abroad paris france”, moves on to “impress a french girl” and eventually makes it all the way to “how to assemble a crib”, showcasing Google’s technology in a way that pretty much everyone can relate to.
I was looking forward to a new ad, not one they’ve shown in theatres for several months!
@Brandon – They’ve shown this ad during the pre ads in movie theatres? Didn’t know that (haven’t been to theater in a while (redbox supplements)). Still a first more many.
Also, it would be something if Google’s first tv ad gets ranks as the top Superbowl ad this year. Where will it end?
@JB The first time I saw the ad was during trailers for 2012.
Me? not on 2012. I think this is the first time I saw G create a mushy-ad.. I thought the background was very sentimental and kind of sound like the ones made on that teary super mario ads: http://bit.ly/sentimental-mario-brothers-commercial
Je t’aime
Much better alternative:
Nice spam, MS flunky
I don’t need a ‘decision engine’, I need a search engine, thank you very much.
:) I’m loving this.
It seems to me that *I* am a search engine. I want a “find” (or “found it”) engine.
bing is fking stupid dude
the commercials annoy me too because everyone knows its not like that
what the hell is “search overload”? :)))
Not sure give me a sec to #google it :P
you mean: use google to bing it???
why advertise something the entire world (except China) already uses?
applying for Director of Advertise Dept position with salary of $250,000 I was asked a “crucial” question: “why you want to work for us? why we (Pepsi) need to advertise, if entire world knows about us!” (serious question!). I replied: “so people dont drink Coke!”.
I got the job!
Real answer is that Eric Schmidt was made fun of in the club room by the other CEO’s – “haha, you don’t even have a Superbowl Ad. Hahaha, Eric, seriously…”
That goes for your interview too: “So that the CEO can brag, Hey I got Tarantino to do my SB Ad blah blah blah”
Getting desperate my friend.. that’s what happens when you have competition. It’s good.. competition is good!
Agreed, they didn’t even pick one of their good ones. The cat browser would have been much better.
I think the ad itself is great, but it also shows why bing may work better (fewer queries for the same results) just my opinion http://bit.ly/c1lkrr
haha, so you search for “how to study, where to drink coffee, how to impress a girl, how to marry that girl and to set up a crib” in one attempt?
you are truly a nerd.
I agree with Brandon. This has been there since quite some time now!! :-)
Amazingly I asked my family if I missed the commercial seconds before it came on.
Never would have predicted this before this week.
Though, I gotta give it to Google for making a great commercial.
Eric Schmidt – I can’t wait for the Super Bowl – To impress a french women
Damn that’s a fast ad. I doubt anyone over 40 will know what the hell just happened.
Agreed.
It’s also kinda mis-targeted. It’s an ad for women, not most Super Bowl watchers.
Pretty sure it’s a guy. Notice the girl’s voice saying tu es très mignon in the background.
Of course — “how to impress a French girl” etc.
But the STORY of the ad, the narrative device that is meant to frame the whole message, is for chicks.
Hell-Oh Yes. Child;
I’m 62 and you are an as*. I have used google since it first arrived on the internet, have gmail, and have google voice on my Blackberry (where with my T-Mobile 5-faves I pay no long distance charges nor do I rack up minutes). Oh, yea and I talk to my European and Asian friends on Skype.
You have been “owned” by an old dude who is evidently much more with it than YOU!
oh, wow. congrat, you really owned that kid.
how old are you again?
(*Assuming you are what you say you are…)
And if you think you’re the norm for your demographic, you’re suffering from dementia too.
10 times better than any Bing ad.
It looks like they see Bing as competitor as it reminds of Bing ads. Competition is good;-)
AA12 shotgun for sale… lol
good catch. I guess they were saving their ad budget where they could to afford the spot. lol.
what condition? Loaded? ID required? thx!
It seemed to me the ad was intended to be informative on some of Google’s features, like with Maps and checking flight times. Most of the people in the room watching the ad where I was had no idea Google had these features. It was probably very effective.
@Ryan – Good point. The whole world knows about google search, but those features are likely “new” to many viewers.
Moreover, even apart from branding for market share, it’s a “feel good” ad that helps build good will (i.e., make the “do no evil” motto a little whiter and a little less tarnished).
That was like Adwords in reverse. /burn
I am surprised that Google did not embed a special url in the video to measure the effectiveness of the ad.
I am assuming they are going to try and measure how many people do the exact same searches as the commercial to get a metric?
Otherwise, the ad is wasted.
Let me get this straight … the ad was wasted because they can’t measure the results?
it’s brand marketing. direct tracking doesn’t tell you much in this regard…
Lame!
I thought it would finally be real advertising for the Nexus One (or a new unannounced phone).
Pffftt
I liked that they chose to maintain their simple clean minimalist aesthetic, it conveys ease of use.
+1 Google
Agreed. Nicely done and very googlistic.
Anyone know whether they are working with an outside firm for their ads? I also liked the Nexus ad.
Good lord! With all the talents they have, I certainly hope they weren’t using any of those Madison Ave douchebags.
Great commercial – esp. since it’s done without blowing wads of money on fancy noisy effects
Notice that they also scrubbed out the ads and the auto-suggest was 100% relevant, both of which don’t often happen in real life searches.
So why did Delta replace American in the broadcast version?
$$$ Google likely got a kickback.
probably Delta outbid AA for this particular ad.
Great commercial. I’m glad it’s “back to the basics” type ad, saying “we’re still a search engine!”
And wait a second, why are we on TechCrunch during the Super Bowl?
Cool little advertisement.
Simple, clean, very google like..great ad.
B.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l.
Google has the IQ and the dollars Google… and they do a remake of Microsoft’s “where do you want to go today” ads from a decade back. If you don’t believe me find they old msft ads with google :-)
Impressive ad! One thing I want to know is how is that guys internet soooooo FAST???!?!! haha :) I wish google ran that fast on my time warner internet…
I was so hoping for “how to tie a bow tie” there towards the end. So close. :)
I was thinking something more like “kamasutra positions” :(
what a great ad. So simple and elegant
great commercial..simple & sleek.
As simpleas it can get but very effective.
It is a fine ad, but promoting their search engine seems a little strange.
I think it was also about the brand Google and how people have been associated with it.
They are mostly promoting all the different uses of it, that most nontechnical people have in fact no idea are possible. Basically, you can do it all with Google. Simple, beautiful, mainstream, and even edgy by its simplicity, speed, and cleanliness.
Nice ad Google. I have friends abroad who this ad reminds me of. One is heading home in a few weeks to show off a new baby. Very poignant!
Did anyone else see this ad with a different flight number?
Why is this ad a big deal?
Very google-like advertisement. This blows the whole superbowl out of the water. IMO
I think there are millions out there who don’t know about a bunch of the features like checking flight status so easily…
they should have included the calculator and the currency converter as well
Umm, it’s great, though, I saw this on 6th February on Engaget.com?? How was it posted there.. before the ad?
There were a few more ads like this. They have been around for a while. Try finding the one with batman searching for gear and stuff.
My favorite
Not impressed. What a waste of time and money.
Could you explain this?
He’s probably a Google employee wishing they would have spent the money on a PSA telling people about how it is illegal to talk on your cell phone while driving.