advertising magic

Advertisements are everywhere. Between articles in newspapers, taking up pages in magazines, on buses, boards and, most annoyingly, every 15 minutes on most television channels. Those tedious clips that stop your film just at the moment you don’t want it to stop, filling the next 3 to 5 minutes with the next product you should buy, the next cream you can’t possibly live without or the next film that will be the film of the summer!

They’re manipulative. They, many would agree with Carrie Snow, ‘degrade the people it appeals to; [they] deprives them of their will to choose.’ But I disagree. I love them! Don’t get me wrong, do I like that every 15ish minutes there’s nothing on TV but adverts? No, they frustrate me like they I am sure frustrate many; still I adore them.

Advertisement is a game, a competition. The most creative, the most imaginative, the most intuitive of creators capture the viewers. No one talks about a boring advert, no one youtubes them, no one watches it with that smile on their faces that says: this is amazing; and no one buys the product. It’s simple, a good advert is something you remember, it influences you and what you buy. A few days ago as I sat waiting in a car, a little boy (6 or 7) told his father about Michelin tyres, and when the father shocked asked how he knew about them, the boy said ‘because of the advert’. A good advert will shape the way we are, how we dress, what we like, and what we want. Adverts will educate, change and influence, and recently I saw one that was simply perfect.

Google Chrome’s advert:

Google could not have created a better advert. In one minute and thirty-one seconds they showcased everything you can do with the internet, with Chrome and, most importantly, with Google. The music is simple, in the background, it draws you in but doesn’t distract from the advert like so many do. It’s dreamy, calm, and perfect. The advert itself isn’t full of colour and objects. Then there was the focus, the family. A relationship between the daughter and her dad, nothing more innate or simple. Something that transcends culture, age, any and all beliefs. The idea, the execution, everything was hit on the head. The videos and photos are of events that children all over go through, the birthdays, the singing, the outfits you find in photos and wonder: what were my parents thinking?

But the best thing about the advert? Google, through one of its products, telling the world we are the future. This isn’t a company that will end anytime soon, these Dads (there’s a ‘Dear Sophie’ version too) are going to watch these videos, read these emails, look through photos with their daughters in the future. Google didn’t create an advert that will just get people to use Chrome but one that will tell everyone that Google is it. Google is the future, Google is part of your family, part of your journey and just in case it wasn’t personal enough, it’s signed with an actual name and Dad.

It is ingenious, no advert has impressed me this much, no advert achieved so much in 91 seconds. This advert is advertising at its best.

The future is here, the future is us, the future is Google.