Google? In a Super Bowl Ad?

• by Dan Bailey

Last night’s big game had a few surprises. One of the biggest being Google’s “Parisian Love” ad. A well-done ad, it revealed clearly to me just how much of our lives now center around online search behavior (the ad portrayed a person’s life events via his search terms). Simple, clear message, directly related to the product, and at least for me it was a memorable ad. But the “surprise” being the act of Google advertising itself. Google has made its mark by ironically doing little or no advertising over the years – let alone broadcast. As suggested on MediaPost.com, it would seem Google is feeling the pinch from Bing.com’s share-of-voice (who also advertised in the Super Bowl; http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=122014).

It’s nice to see a Super Bowl ad that makes me think a little – kind of like Apple’s 1984 ad did all those years ago…

– Jake Aull 
www.zenofbrand.com