For once, the actual football of Super Bowl XLIV outshone the commercials as Drew Brees and the Saints outwitted Peyton Manning's Colts in a thrilling roller coaster of a game. Ad-wise, the usual fireworks from Anheuser-Busch and GoDaddy were OK, and PepsiCo’s
Never before has the online search giant paid its way into television's biggest party, and this one-minute splurge of a first entry likely cost the company about $5 million. The spot itself wasn't terribly expensive, though: Using search queries and their results as a novel storytelling medium, Google chronicles a trans-Atlantic love affair that ends in marriage and babies, and the video has been getting overwhelmingly positive comments on YouTube over the past three months.
“Parisian Love” was no high-budget spot specially designed for Super Bowl stardom, but simply one of several text-heavy Google ads that have been hanging out on YouTube for a couple of months. This one got the best reviews and highest traffic, so the engineering-minded Google folks sent it off to share the world's biggest stage. Google is eating its own cooking by making real business use of YouTube's open community.
Now, even a caveman knows about Google these days, and the video didn't show any astonishing new Google features. But brand advertising is all about making an emotional connection with the audience, and “Parisian Love” certainly did that. Bing commercials from Microsoft
Super Bowl ads often kick off larger campaigns, so I wouldn't be surprised to see shortened versions of “Parisian Love” across CBS
Did you love “Paris,” or should Google just stay out of football? Discuss in the comments below; no arm tackles allowed!