Google's First Super Bowl Ad - A Blogospheric Conversation

Two months ago, Google released a video on YouTube called “Parisian Love,” which tells the story of an American who falls in love with a French woman while studying abroad, through a progression of search queries. According to Google’s “Search Stories” channel on YouTube, “Parisian Love” is part of a series of videos that are meant to “show that anyone can do anything when paired with the power of search.” John Batelle, who has predicted that Google would have to start brand marketing itself for ‘some time’ now, believes that “Parisian Love” and Google’s “Search Series” is very well done and is be part of a serious branding campaign.

In a post two weeks later, on the day before Super Bowl XLIV, John reveals that he has a reliable source telling him that Google’s “Parisian Love” ad will air during the third quarter of the Super Bowl. John comments that this would be a true turning point Google, who “for nearly 10 years, dismissed brand advertising as a waste of money… and built its entire fortune on turning the advertising model upside down.” John emailed Google for comment and looked up CBS’s lineup of advertisers but could not find a secondary confirmation. In an update, John posts a screenshot of Eric Schmidt’s (Google’s CEO) twitter, which reads: “Can't wait to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. Be sure to watch the ads in the 3rd quarter (someone said ‘Hell has indeed frozen over.’)”

Despite theses clues, Pete Cashmore believes that there is reason to be skeptical about Google running an ad during the Super Bowl since: 1) a French-themed commercial would be unfit for an all-American sporting event 2) USAToday’s list of Super Bowl advertisers does not include Google and 3) “Super Bowl advertisers are working closely with Google to promote the ads on YouTube for voting after they air.

Jessica E. Valcellero of WSJ blogs, comments that Google has actually purchased a tiny number of TV ads in the past and has been spending more on print and billboard ads recently, but that this would be the first time that the company would do something of this caliber if John Bastelle is indeed correct. She speculates that “it is interesting that Google is choosing to make a splash in Internet search, an area where its brand is firmly entrenched–as opposed to seizing the slot to promote one of the lesser-known products it has been trying to marketing more heavily, like its software business.”

During the third quarter of the Super Bowl, Google does indeed air “Parisian Love” on national television in front of 90 million Americans. Minutes later, Jason Kincaid of Tech Crunch confirms that John Battelle’s predictions were correct and comments that Google’s ad takes a different approach from all the other ads that focused on cars, beer, and busty women, by telling a love story through a series of search queries, and “showcasing Google’s technology in a way everyone can relate to.” Skeptic Pete Cashmore posts shortly after also confirming that the rumors were correct.