It's 9:30 in the morning. You're already at the office. Your wife, nine months pregnant, is at home, just now dragging herself out of bed. But thanks to Google, you will spend every second of the day in contact with her, sharing all of the anticipation, anxiety and not-getting-anything-else-done that comes, appropriately, with being on the verge of popping out a kid.
This U.K. ad from the Internet giant—with help from its in-house video agency Across the Pond, directors Silent Studios and production company Not To Scale—takes the now-familiar tack of humanizing the brand's technology by illustrating how the easily-taken-for-granted functions it facilitates—chat, search, maps—integrate into daily life to help people better inform themselves, and more easily keep in touch with their loved ones across distances.
The soundtrack, also characteristically for the brand, eschews voiceover in favor of the sort of Devotchka-esque instrumental music made so popular by Little Miss Sunshine that seems designed to capture the ineffably profound joy and meaning of existence, but certainly not by taking itself too seriously. And some approximation of that insight is, apparently, that despite living in a world where a vast amount of communication has shifted from talking, say, on the phone, to less intimate but more efficient text-based correspondence, what really matters in the end is being attentive to the person with whom you're sharing the ride—and ensuring the future of the species.
Overall, the style succeeds in accurately reflecting, for better or worse, the somewhat removed but still-connected way in which we experience the world, and relationships, these days. It also seems to accurately reflect the way in which men have always experienced their wives being pregnant. Which is why, of course, you're getting that pineapple she wants without making fun of her, and who cares if she's being a little passive aggressive—you'd better bet it's your record collection, and not her menagerie of animal-shaped teapots, that's going into storage to make room for the newest member of your family, whom she has just carried around in her stomach for the better part of a year. P.S.: All of her friends on Google Plus agree.
Not that she really needs their assent. Google, always listening, is your and her new best friend. It's also your secretary, your therapist, your financial adviser, your real estate agent, your navigator and your midwife.
CREDITS
Client: Google
Agency: Across the Pond
Google Product Marketing Managers: Jon Day, Matt Maltby, Harsh Shah
Across the Pond Head of Production: Beki Gard
Agency Producer: Alexia Merrington
Production Company: Not To Scale
Director: Silent Studios
Executive Producers: Dan O'Rourke, Debbie Crosscup
Cast
Man: Lawrence Baker
Woman: Jaymie Addicott
Line Producer: Hannah Ireland
Production Managers: Kelly Ford, Matt Saxton
Director of Photography: Benjamin Thomas
Production Designer: Nicola Dietmann
Costume Designer: Alli Wyldeck
Hair, Makeup: Heather Manson
Editing: Sam Gunn, Whitehouse Post
Grading: Max Horton, Technicolor
Sound Mix: Liam Paton, Resonate
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