Macaulay Culkin Is Home Alone Again at Age 38 in Google’s Update to the Holiday Classic

Oh no, someone left Kevin McCallister home alone once again! But wait, that’s not all too alarming, given that actor Macaulay Culkin is now 38 years old.

In Google’s homage to and update of 1990’s Home Alone, Culkin is still enjoying his solo time—but now without the lingering dread of being accidentally ditched by parents. He’s also no longer traumatized by aftershave, though jumping on the bed is still fun (except for the resulting laundry and back pain).

“Home Alone Again With Google Voice,” created with Richmond-based agency Arts and Letters Creative Co., is sure to be a hit with fans of the original, thanks to its loving and detailed callbacks to the film and its sequel, which are delightfully integrated with Google Assistant devices like the Home Mini, Home Hub and Pixel smartphone.

In addition to the ad’s visual references, there are also some fun Easter eggs related to the ad that have been dropped into Google Assistant devices. So if you own one, trying hitting it with one of these questions or comments:

• Hey Google, how much do I owe you?
• Hey Google, did I forget something?
• Hey Google, the Wet Bandits are here.
• Hey Google, it’s me Snakes. I got the stuff.
• Hey Google, I’m the man of the house.

As you can imagine, the answer to the first one involves keeping the change, ya filthy animal. (Sadly, none of these gets your Google Home to say, “Get down on your knees and tell me you love me,” but maybe we can hope for an ad sequel that reboots the film sequel.)

The Google video is obviously reminiscent of the 2012 Honda CR-V Super Bowl ad from RPA that saw Matthew Broderick revisiting his Ferris Bueller antics, though Broderick was playing himself as a middle-age actor, while Culkin is still in character.

But there’s certainly still more room for this retro reboot approach to ads. Maybe next year, Bruce Willis climbs back into the ducts for a Die Hard ad for WeWork?

CREDITS:

Client: Google
Client Team
Director of Brand Growth, Google Assistant: Flavia Simon
Product Marketing Manager, Google Assistant: Therese Wong
Associate Product Marketing Manager, Google Assistant: Stefanie Pinsley
Social Marketing Manager, Google Social Lab: Jessica Breslin

Arts & Letters Creative Co.
Founder / Executive Creative Director: Charles Hodges
Director of Strategy: Andy Grayson
Director of Production: Letitia Jacobs
Managing Director: Rich Weinstein
Creative: NJ Placentra
Creative: Chris Stephens
Creative: Joey Ianno
Creative: Jonathan Hirsch
Business Director: Allison Oxenreiter
Business Manager: Danielle Young
Producer: Christina Cairo
Assistant Producer: Mel Calabro
Business Affairs: Karen Murillo, Lenora Cushing

Production Co: Arts & Sciences
Director: Mike Warzin
DP: Sean Porter
Managing Partner, Ep: Marc Marrie
Partner, Managing Director: Mal Ward
Head of Production: Christa Skotland
Line Producer: Alex Waite
Production Designer: Clement Price-Thomas
Still Photography Photographer: Adam Hoff
Digital Tech: Jason Robinette
Producer: Maria Bianco, Bianco Artists
BTS Producer: Cake Films BTS Camera Operator: Selene Richholt

Shot in New York

Editorial Company: Arcade Edit
Editor: Jeff Ferruzzo
Editor: Ali Mao
Asst. Editor: Jeff Lopus
Executive Producer: Sila Soyer
Producer: Fanny Cruz

VFX Production: The Mill
Executive Producer: Christina Thompson
Producer: Lauren Orban
Production Coordinator: Roberto Herrera, Kevin Liu

VFX Creative: The Mill
Chief Creative Officer: Angus Kneale
Shoot Supervisor: Kyle Cody
2-D Lead Artist: Kyle Cody
2-D Artists: Andrew Emmerson, Heather Kennedy Eck, Molly Intersimone, Dhruv Shankar, Terner Thompson
Matte Painting: Roger Kupelian

Color: CO3 NY
Colorist: Tom Poole
Color Producer: Alex Lubrano
Color Assist: Jenny Montgomery

Audio Mix: Heard City
Audio Mixer: Elizabeth McClanahan
Producer: Andi Lewis
EP: Sasha Awn
Managing Director: Gloria Pitagorsky
Tracks: “White Christmas”-The Drifters /”Rockin Around the Christmas Tree” -Brenda Lee/ “Home Alone Original Score” -John Williams

Motion Design – UI: Mixtape Club
Executive Producer: John Holt
UI Animation Lead: Avi Jacobs

Talent: Macaulay Culkin

David Griner

@griner

David Griner is creative and innovation editor for Adweek. He's been covering agencies, creativity, technology and marketing innovation for more than a decade and is host of Adweek's podcast.