Heartbreaking Super Bowl Ad Features Elderly Man Using Google Assistant To Help Him Remember 'Loretta'
Most of the time, advertisements are annoying things we deal with to get to what we really want. Plenty of people have ditched television for streaming services like Netflix, in many instances because they can avoid commercials.
Many ads are hit or miss, droning, boring or featuring lackluster individuals from local businesses — but every once in a while an advertisement really goes above and beyond and does what it’s supposed to do: Catch our attention.
There are quite a few notable ads that stick with people because of their quirky sense of humor (like Old Spice commercials, or Allstate ads, which feature Mayhem personified). Sometimes, there’s a much deeper message presented, and it sticks with you as well as the name of the company that made it.
While the quality of these ads is all over the board, there’s one day where they’re notoriously good: Super Bowl Sunday. Advertisements get shared and ranked like crazy, and you can be sure companies will be competing to have the most memorable ad.
Google’s definitely giving it their best shot with this year’s entry called “Loretta.”
The company’s first Super Bowl ad aired in 2010, and it’s still impacting viewers.
Called “Parisian Love,” the 52-second clip packed a world of meaning into a simple, but poignant, message, highlighting Google’s search engine. Since its debut, it has been used as an example of quality storytelling.
A decade later, and the people at Google decided to mirror their first commercial with a similarly heartwarming premise that once again shows off what the company has to offer.
Called “Loretta,” the minute-and-a-half ad features an older gentleman using various Google features to catalog some of his favorite memories of a woman named Loretta, who was — ostensibly — the love of his life.
Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Twohill acknowledged the similarities between the two commercials in a statement released on Tuesday.
“‘Loretta’ has a few other things in common with our ‘Parisian Love’ commercial from 10 years ago,” Twohill wrote. “Both are simple love stories told through the lens of our products.”
“Both were inspired by real people — in fact, the voice you hear throughout ‘Loretta’ is the grandfather of a Googler, whose story we drew from to create the ad. At 85, to an audience of millions, he’ll be making his film debut. We couldn’t be happier for him.”
She also said that the ad shows the ways in which Google products can “help people in their daily lives, in both big and small ways,” including “finding a location,” “playing a favorite movie” or “using the Google Assistant to remember meaningful details.”
Some have found the amount of information being handed over in the advertisement a little unsettling, but others see the value of using the tools at our disposal to remember the most important aspects of our lives.
Whatever your take on the products, the short video is certainly relatable and sweet, and will likely tug at the heartstrings of many viewers.
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