Google, without a tangible product or fixed physical location, is a company that particularly needs to remind consumers of the benefits of its use. The company’s 2010 Superbowl ad Parisian Love does this by promoting two central ideas; “Google helps you create your life” and “Google is essentially feminine”.
Parisian Love is, on the surface, a very simple advertisement. An unseen user types a series of searches into Google’s signature plain interface. The computer and keyboard are not shown and the only other elements included in the ad are music and a few background noises. No voiceover. No arguments or explanations of benefits. How, then, does the ad convey its two central themes?
The typed searches follow a dramatic arc, from tentative initial engagement with a greater world, through discovery, and onward to a new and better future. The lack of hardware in the commercial creates immediacy. There are no barriers between the search engine and the user; they are operating together as a unit. Google is presented as an active partner designed to increase the human partner’s agency rather than as a passive receptor of input. It offers suggested search terms, corrects spelling (from louve to Louvre), offers quick basic information (translating “tu es tres mignon”), and concrete directions with visual clues (the map with a photograph of a church). The collaboration is so integrated that Google seems able to read the human user’s mind. The result is that the user is able to successfully navigate a confusing and uncertain world to construct favorable outcomes. We, as viewers, take away the idea that making a life is better and easier with Google than without it. The power of Google is our power.
This message is reinforced by the music, the dominant audio element in the ad. As the ad starts the search box is empty and the flashing cursor keeps time with hesitant, repeated piano notes that are strongly reminiscent of a heartbeat. As the user asks more and more from Google the music quickens, becoming more complex and melodic. The connectivity established at the beginning allows faster paced and more confident life choices.
The second theme promoted by Parisian Love involves the nature of this active and apparently indispensible partner. To understand the devices used to position Google as a feminine embodiment of technology it is important to remember that this commercial made its television debut during the 2010 Superbowl. During the game Anhueser-Busch ran 11 different beer commercials. Other major campaigns were for Doritos and the annual onslaught of “too hot for TV” Go Daddy commercials. Google’s ad is designed to be very different from these notably masculine and aggressive commercials. Traditional Superbowl ads rely on broad humor, beautiful women, and over the top special effects. Parisian Love gives, instead, a forthright presentation of sentiment, relationships, and the pleasures of conversation and food. Traditionally feminine themes replace predominantly masculine ones.
After viewing Parisian Love there can be no doubt in the viewer’s mind that Google is different. Where Bud Light ads are slapstick Google is charming. Where Go Daddy is assertively sexual Google is yearningly romantic. Google’s ad is warm and familiar, careful to eliminate any reason for feelings of intimidation or fear of technology use. Any wish you have is Google’s wish, from understanding French films to locating the nearest source of chocolate. By promoting itself using these kinds of motifs Google presents itself as inherently feminine.
Google’s professed corporate philosophy has always included a focus on ease of use and social responsibility. Parisian Love operates to exemplify those core values.
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