An Olympics ad from Google depicting a father using its Gemini AI assistant to help his daughter compose a letter to her favorite athlete has drawn sharp criticism from online commentators. However, data provided exclusively to Business Insider suggests the spot is actually one of the better-performing ads of the Paris Olympics so far.
Google's "Dear Sydney" spot first aired on TV during the broadcast of the opening ceremony on July 24 and is also available on YouTube. The ad is narrated by the father, who explains his daughter's ambitions to become a hurdler, following in the footsteps of Team USA's Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. He asks Google Gemini to generate a letter to McLaughlin-Levrone, telling her how inspiring she is; and the AI assistant duly obliges. Google is an official sponsor of Team USA.
The ad sparked an online backlash, with most of the disapproval leveled at the premise that an AI assistant could replicate a heartfelt message from a child fan to her idol. Some compared it to a recent Apple spot that was roundly criticized as dystopian and which showed a sample of humanity's greatest achievements being "crushed" into an iPad Pro.
"Everything about the premise of this commercial makes my blood boil," wrote Shelly Palmer, the marketing consultant and professor of advanced media at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, on his website.
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Google has since turned off the comments on the YouTube video, which has been viewed more than 250,000 times.
But despite the negative online punditry, Google's "Dear Sydney" is actually hitting the right notes with most viewers, according to data from the ad testing firm System1, which rates TV ads on their potential to drive long-term growth for brands. The ad received a System1 star rating of 4.4 on a scale of 1.0 to 5.9, which the company described as "strong."
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"It follows a coherent story, focuses on characters with agency and vitality, and prioritizes people over the product," said Jon Evans, System1 chief customer officer, of Google's ad. "Additionally, it champions diversity and inclusion by highlighting women in sports, providing young girls with role models."
System1's tracking showed that the ad's human story does "the heavy emotional lifting" and the negative emotional responses only begin to happen when Gemini is introduced to the ad, Evans said. System1 asks a panel of consumers across several countries to indicate how they feel about the ad they're viewing from a list of emotions ranging from contempt and disgust to happiness and surprise.
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The top three Olympics ads so far in System1's ranking are UK supermarket Aldi's "Has Kevin met his match?" (4.7 stars), Australian insurance company AAMI's "When our athletes are in the making" (4.7 stars), and NBC Sports' "Why is Sabrina in Paris?" (4.6 stars).
The 'Dear Sydney' campaign continues to split opinions among ad experts
Maani Safa, chief executive of the marketing agency Poppins, said the backlash to Google's ad is "absolutely unwarranted," but unsurprising given that people have historically resisted new technology due to their fear of change.
"This apprehension is rooted in a fear of the loss of control, job displacement, and ethical concerns," Safa said. "However, as society begins to understand and harness these innovations, the initial fear often gives way to acceptance and eventual integration into daily life."
Still, several ad experts have said Google's marketing department — which created the ad in-house rather than using an ad agency — should have done a better job of reading the room.
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"It's so tone-deaf it begs the question: Did Google use AI to draft the actual script? And to execute the spot?" said Malcolm Poynton, the global chief creative officer at Cheil Worldwide, Google rival Samsung's global creative agency.
A Google spokesperson didn't provide details about the company's future plans for the "Dear Sydney" campaign but pointed Business Insider to a statement it provided earlier this week. In it, the company said its goal was to create an authentic story that showed AI's ability to enhance human creativity rather than replace it.
Google Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Twohill had written on LinkedIn on Friday that the ad was "a beautiful example of how technology can bring us closer to turning dreams into reality."
The "Dear Sydney" spot was still airing on US TV on Tuesday morning, according to the measurement firm iSpot.
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While Google could pull the ad, some creative experts said the company should consider launching related follow-on marketing activity that clarifies its position on AI.
Josh Green, executive creative director at the marketing agency House 337, suggested Google acknowledge the feedback and go on to install physical mailboxes around the world "where kids could send their favorite Olympic athletes proper messages of support."
