Sports are the celebration of the physical achievements of athletes who time and time again prove the true capabilities of the human body. It is also a celebration of the achievements that form and reinforce the identity of people and nations—the activities that they excel at and pride themselves in.
So, it should come as no surprise that competitions like the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, and the Super Bowl draw in crowds of millions, if not billions around the world. And since many high-profile sporting events are televised, it also draws in a bunch of companies for a chance of some advertising.
The Super Bowl is the ideal example of how a sporting event begins to double as an ad festival. One can even dare to say that it has over time become somewhat of a competition of which company can come out with a better ad with the audience being the jury.
Google managed to sway the hearts of millions with its heartwarming Super Bowl Ad
Image credits: Google
The roster offered a slew of funny ads, like the Rick and Morty Pringles commercial and the Mountain Dew Zero "Shining" parody, as well as some more touching and inspirational ads like the NFL’s “Inspire Change” commercial. However, based on the nearly-unanimous reaction that the viewers had, nobody seemed to do it better than Google and their “Loretta” ad.
Their touching commercial for the Google Assistant has brought the entire world to tears. It features the voice of an old man talking to the Assistant, reminiscing of himself with his significant other named Loretta.
It features an elderly man's voice talking to Google Assistant and reminiscing about his time with Loretta
Image credits: Google
Image credits: Google
Viewers are told a heart-wrenching story of this man’s best moments in life together with Loretta in the hope of not forgetting them. He asks the Assistant to pull up photos of their wedding anniversary. He asks it to remember things like how Loretta hated his mustache. He even asked Google Assistant to play their favorite movie—Casablanca. All of this lead the viewers to believe that the protagonist has lost her to time.
The Assistant recapped with a list of all of the things that the man also asked the Assistant to remember: how Loretta used to hum show tunes, how her favorite flowers were tulips, how she had the most beautiful handwriting. The ad concluded with the words, “Remember that I’m the luckiest man in the world”.
He asks things like to pull up photos of him and Loretta and to show their favorite movie
Image credits: Google
Image credits: Google
Needless to say, this left people in tears. The ad resonated with many as they identified themselves with the protagonist with his sincere voice, being reminded of their own loved ones and the good times they had.
In a Google blog post, it is explained that the ad is voiced by the 85-year-old grandfather of a Google employee, a designer who worked on the commercial. The ad aims to reflect on how Google’s products help people in their daily lives and how every little bit helps in doing so.
Google Assistant responds with "Ok, I'll remember that" to all things the protagonist asks to note
Image credits: Google
Image credits: Google
The ad was built in the vein of the Parisian Love ad from 10 years ago, with the only difference being that everything there was looked up on the search engine, and not in voice commands on Google Assistant. Parisian Love is another one of their ads that hits us in the feels by telling a story of a man who moves to study in Paris, falls in love, and has his happily-ever-after there.
The Googler who worked on this ad had his 85YO grandfather voice the video
Image credits: Google
The touching ad concludes with all of the things the Assistant was asked to remember over the years
Image credits: Google
Take a look at the touching video ad below. While you’re at it, why not leave a comment below of your fondest memories with loved ones?
Take a look at the video ad for yourself (warning: it hits right in the feels)
Image credits: Google