In the Simplest of Terms

Lots of people are talking about the Google Super Bowl ad. And what's one more sounding brass in the orchestra? Here's my take on this ad. I loved it. I thought it was genius and simple and effective and all around awesome. Google is a monument to simplicity. And this commercial holds a mirror to the Google philosophy of less is more.

The story telling is what makes my hair stand on end. Google gives the audience a simple love story told through a Google search box. A soft piano back track builds as the story progresses, but never overwhelms the emotional impact of the words being typed. The audience is given just enough information and allowed to fill in the blanks with their imagination. Thus projecting their own emotions and experiences into this story. A beautiful thing. (Side note: When he begins to spell the Louver as the Loove. That made me smile).

This ad cut through the clutter like a scalpel. I was still thinking about it when the Saints intercepted Manning in the fourth quarter. I thought about it again when my wife was making fun of me for having hot wing sauce all over my face. And two days later I'm still thinking about this ad. That's the power of a story. That's why I don't tell people I write advertisements—I tell stories that happen to have a product as the protagonist.