One of the biggest parts of the Super Bowl is always the adverts, with millions of dollars paid for slots during the game so companies can get that prime time exposure.
Google was one of the companies to do just that – they broadcast an ad designed to show off how handy their smart speaker Google Home is.
The advert definitely achieves its goal. But there was a problem.
A lot of people watching the Super Bowl in the US happened to already have Google Home, and the multiples cries of ‘OK, Google’ from the TV sparked a nationwide spate of meltdowns.
The Google Home commercial turned on my Google Home. She's the only person in my house who listens to me.
— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) February 5, 2017
Nice Google ad on first commercial break. (Too bad my google home was going off the whole time ruining the commercial).
— Kevin Nether (@TechNinjaSpeaks) February 5, 2017
Coolest aspect of @Google #SuperBowl ad is when our Google Home talked back ?? #SuperBowlCommercials
— Tricia Milford (@tmilfordhoyt) February 5, 2017
Google Home commercial kept setting mine off! They need to chill it with the "okay Google"-ing.
— Bill Radjewski (@BillRadjewski) February 5, 2017
That @Google home trailer made my google home have a meltdown.
— Jared Feldman (@jfeldman452) February 5, 2017
Google Home isn’t yet available in the UK, so viewers over here were spared a late-night AI meltdown. However, the perils of running a TV advert about a voice-based assistant are not new – recently a TV news report in the US on Amazon’s Echo home hub had a similar result when presenters regularly used the trigger word ‘Alexa’. So if you own an Echo, make sure you’re on alert the next time a TV item discussing the device comes on.
