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Google Super Bowl Commercial Has Unintended Real-Life Consequences

Feb 6, 2017  •  Post A Comment

A commercial airing during Sunday’s Super Bowl created problems in the real world. The spot for Google Home, which has been out since last fall, features people arriving home and saying, “OK Google,” which prompts the Google Assistant in the ad to perform various tasks such as turning on lights and turning up the music.

The problem is that the ad also prompted the Google Assistants in viewers’ homes to get busy. Writing on The Verge, Kwame Opam reports that his Google Home system was awakened by the commercial, before the system eventually said, “Sorry. Something went wrong.”

Opam notes that he wasn’t the only one. The report cites a number of Twitter posts from users who had similar problems.

One user tweeted: “That @Google home trailer made my google home have a meltdown.”

Other viewers seemed to enjoy the incident. A Twitter user wrote: “Coolest aspect of @Google #SuperBowl ad is when our Google Home talked back ? #SuperBowlCommercials.”

The report notes that a similar occurrence took place about a month ago, when Amazon Echos began ordering dollhouses after hearing a report on a local morning show in San Diego about an incident in which a young girl asked Alexa to order a dollhouse.

Here’s the Google spot …

One Comment

  1. Google and Alexa are always listening. The ears of Big Brother? Your smartphone, webcam, and the camera in your smart TV can all be activated remotely without your knowledge. Those are the eyes. Am I paranoid? Maybe a tad, but I’ve recently reread 1984. But before you tell me I’m completely paranoid, why is Edward Snowden in Russia, again?

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