The Super Bowl was a chance for tech giants to spread some positive — though not necessarily happy — vibes about their brands after a year of bipartisan scrutiny from federal and state lawmakers over whether they are abusing their market power.
Google took a tearjerker approach with its ad about an elderly widower recalling memories of his wife using Google’s voice assistant and photo album features.
The ad was inspired by one Google employee’s grandfather and seemed to make an impression on game viewers — not to mention at least one of the lawmakers scrutinizing the tech giant.
“I watched the #SuperBowl Ad by Google and cried,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat. “Didn’t even know an Ad could do that.”
It was a somewhat risky approach for Google amid heightened concern over consumer privacy. Despite its poignancy, it depended on viewers not thinking much, or caring, about how Google would be selling ads off what the narrator was searching for on the web.
“Google will remember you after you and all of your family and friends are dead,” tweeted actor Joel Heyman.
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