Google’s new ad goes full Jony Ive on the Pixel 5A headphone jack

https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/27/22644368/google-pixel-5a-headphone-jack-ad

by cf100clunk • 5 years ago

52 67 5 years ago

arein32• 5 years ago

they are trying to mock apple, but are mocking themselves in the end

cf100clunk6• 5 years ago

Mockery? The topic of headphone jack availability has been a very serious, heavily debated one in the consumer world, to whit:

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

So whether mocking Apple was the goal, the ad pokes at a particular sore spot for many folks.

arein32• 5 years ago

it's obvious that is over the top and the intent is to mock apple presentations

however they are mocking themselves because their "serious" presentations are worse than apples

echelon• 5 years ago

This is great.

Not that I think Google is any better, but it's honestly Apple that mocks Apple the best.

"Privacy"

Their whole image and pretentiousness is surface deep, insincere rubbish.

hdjjhhvvhga5• 5 years ago

I'm waiting for Apple's response to this add. Actually they may want to focus on privacy and tracking. It would be a nice war to watch.

yborg• 5 years ago

However perfect it might be, it’s been absent on the top-tier Pixels since the Pixel 2.

They are, in fact, literally mocking themselves.

finebalance• 5 years ago

Slick pretentious nonsense unfortunately makes the world go round these days.

cf100clunk6• 5 years ago

It has always been thus. The difference here is that a well-known, well-debated consumer grievance over the presence of headphone jacks is at the core of the ad.

SwiftyBug• 5 years ago

These days? This is from 2012:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI

ethbr05• 5 years ago

A classic, but I did find the Toyota product placement a bit distracting.

TuringNYC• 5 years ago

Is this a real ad or a spoof?

benbristow• 5 years ago

It's on the real 'Made By Google' YouTube account (has a verified tick)

https://www.youtube.com/c/madebygoogle/videos

So if it's fake, the account has been hacked. And it looks like a lot of effort for a fake!

6gvONxR4sf7o3• 5 years ago

Both. It’s a official parody ad.

shp0ngle• 5 years ago

Uh I don't know.

Mocking Apple by copying its style makes you look hollow.

Even back when Apple was mocking PC users, back in the infamous "Switch" commercials and "Mac vs PC", they didn't just copy the Windows XP style.

Like it or not, Apple has style. It also doesn't have headpone jack, but there must be better way of communicating it than "hehe apple dumb". Especially when Ive is not even there anymore...

isoprophlex• 5 years ago

"The circle comes full circle"

If this isn't the peak of empty marketing-speak, I wonder what the next step is. To me that ad is so lame, it's only one step removed from a very slick narration of

"Buy our stuff. It is good stuff. Please buy our stuff."

hdjjhhvvhga5• 5 years ago

They are probably trying to mock Apple. I'm not sure, I have ambivalent feelings about this. I appreciate their critique of the removal of a very useful feature, but the whole ad is a bit too long. They could have done it in 20 seconds and still make a point.

stuff4ben2• 5 years ago

That ad is so cringe, yikes! That being said, I'm happy without that "perfect circle" and wireless AirPods. I understand quality isn't up there with the top .00001% of people that can tell the difference. But I'm ok with that.

hdjjhhvvhga5• 5 years ago

Seriously, do you think the quality of the sound is the only problem here?

armagon• 5 years ago

Oh, that was so fun to watch.

p45please• 5 years ago

Was getting some Douglas Adams vibes in the first half, very odd but entertaining.

alamortsubite2• 5 years ago

The ad would be entertaining if it were edited down to about 30 seconds. At two minutes, it falls totally flat.

I'm glad they kept the jack, though.

jayd162• 5 years ago

This is probably just the long form and they'll have the trimmed down 30 second tv spot version.

alamortsubite2• 5 years ago

Good point.

I don't know much about advertising. Why would they post the video in its current form on YT? It seems likely to be a turn-off to those who would otherwise be enthusiastic about the phone, and fodder for its detractors.

ljoshua• 5 years ago

I'm an AirPods-wearing iPhone-loving guy, but I totally lost it at "(whispers) It's a headphone jack..." and lol'ed all over the place. It was long but kept me entertained.

I won't be buying a Pixel, but I can certainly appreciate the fun the marketing team had with this one and I'll take it. :)

__m2• 5 years ago

Sweet, can’t wait for that floppy drive on the chromebook

hdjjhhvvhga5• 5 years ago

The difference is that nobody needs nor wants a floppy drive in their notebook whereas everybody needs a headphone jack on their phone.

__m2• 5 years ago

Like everybody couldn’t live without a floppy or dvd drive some years ago. Some people are just slow to adapt.

cobookman• 5 years ago

I used to think i needed a headphone jack. Then I got bluetooth headsets and I honestly wouldn't go back.

handrous• 5 years ago

I agree that getting rid of the jack sucks, and the solution of "just buy new (expensive) bluetooth audio equipment" is bullshit.

... however, having switched to BT for audio devices myself (receiver, headphones, and of course even cheap cars have had it for years now), I need USB-A on my MacBook a whole lot more than I need a headphone jack on anything, now.

stuff4ben2• 5 years ago

Looks like we've triggered all of the headphone jack sadists.

acheron• 5 years ago

Ha, thought the same thing. That plus Adobe Flash support.

ozzythecat2• 5 years ago

Interesting ad. I don’t have audio on, but it looks like an Apple ad. I use AirPods Pro now and before that, I had wireless Bose headphones. I’m not the target customer if they’re after customers who really need a headphone jack.

Having said that, I’m probably not going back to Pixel. In 2019, I got an iPhone 7 Plus on EBay for a great deal. I also work on a MacBook and liked it so much I bought a personal one. My AirPods Pro work seamlessly with both the phone and the MacBook. Everything just sort of works out of the box and I don’t have to mess with anything.

If Google can do that and do it better, I might consider switching.

cf100clunk6• 5 years ago

But this is about the headphone jack being available for those who desire one.

ethbr05• 5 years ago

Interesting ad.
I don’t have audio on
I’m not the target customer if they’re after customers who really need a headphone jack.

Prototypical HN comment.

ozzythecat2• 5 years ago

You’re commenting about me personally. Did I hurt you in some way?

yupper322• 5 years ago

If you don't have the audio on then you probably missed that this is seething is sarcasm.

6gvONxR4sf7o3• 5 years ago

The ad is parody, so you’re missing out not listening.

AnonHP• 5 years ago

I hope Google didn't pay money for this ad. It sounds like a competitor made it for Google.

“a glorious achievement that draws from our past as it propels us into the future.”

Nothing tells that something is stuck in the past like focusing on one part that's no longer common on smartphones. I'd like to see what the ads for Google's wireless Bluetooth buds claim. When Apple removed the headphone jack, Samsung made fun of that too in its marketing campaigns. But guess what? It ditched the headphone jack too (as is usual for Samsung to do when it comes to copying the very things it ridicules Apple for, like user replaceable batteries, for instance).

Within a year, we'll see Google come "full circle" and ditch the headphone jack on smartphones it makes...assuming it's still into making Google branded smartphones by some means. I'm positive this ad will age poorly.

cf100clunk6• 5 years ago

"Nothing tells that something is stuck in the past like focusing on one part that's no longer common on smartphones." Apple and some other companies summarily ditched a feature that is clearly desireable to many smartphone consumers. That is not an example of a friendly, "good" future.

unixhero• 5 years ago

Love it. I am not buying a phone without 3.5mm headphone jack and 512gb storage. Right now only Sony can deliver this.

hexa22• 5 years ago

Why not just leave the adapter on the end of your headphones? That way the convenience is about the same but you don’t massively limit your choice.

berdario• 5 years ago

Depending on your headphones, the adapter might not fit within their case.

Also, if you're like me, you have multiple headphones/earphones (the earphones always with me, since I might not have a bag to carry the headphones). Thirdly, the adapters are not universal, and thus they won't work with all your phones (I always carry two phones with me: personal and work one)

out_of_protocol• 5 years ago

I'm using the adapter for half a year. It's bad. First of all, connection is not stable, any force applied to the connector is degrading both sides of the connection. With headphone jack phone lives happily in the pocket, no issues for like 4 or so years (upgraded phone after that to the phone without 3.5mm connector), and with usb-c it was like a week or two before some interruptions started, changing cable side is possible but does not help much. I've tried BT too (BT DAC module), it's both much lower sound quality and still has connectivity issues as well (having your body in the way of bluetooth radiowaves somehow is enough)

yupper322• 5 years ago

Man, is no one getting that this is self-deprecating, sarcastic humor? It's not meant to be serious. At all.

They got rid of the jack, after making fun of others getting rid of the jack, and now they're bringing it back. The only way to go about that is to laugh at yourself.

This is funny.

cf100clunk6• 5 years ago

I enjoy that the ad seems to be self-aware and deliberately ironic.

6gvONxR4sf7o3• 5 years ago

I wonder how many of the people missing the humor don’t have their sound on. Because that video was hilarious.

ethbr05• 5 years ago

In their defense, it's a pain in the ass to connect Bluetooth audio...

robear2• 5 years ago

Hasn't the A series always had a headphone jack?

whimsicalism• 5 years ago

hangonhn• 5 years ago

I am a long time iPhone fan and this Android ad made me chuckle. I miss the self-deprecation of Silicon Valley/tech. It's almost nostalgic coming from Google. It reminds me of the Google and other tech companies before they became so successful and so polished.

bb88• 5 years ago

It's not just the self-deprecation, it's the poking fun at companies along the way. The Pentium II burning ad is a classic. As was the Mac vs PC ads about a decade ago.

The last Apple computer I owned was an Apple IIc. I used a MacBook Pro for work a few times, and just never enjoyed the experience of it. I just completely never got the same level of joy using it than I did when I first got the Apple IIc.

kgwxd• 5 years ago

Please do hardware keyboards next. Then start trending the overall size downward again.

ethbr05• 5 years ago

Everything about this is hilarious, and anyone who doesn't think so needs to go in for a sardonicism recalibration.

(And anyone who takes this seriously needs to go in for a reality calibration. Their distortion field may be misaligned)

shrubble• 5 years ago

Digital, yeah? D I G I T A L.

It has the feel of the "With Bob and David" sketch that spoofs Shingy.

tlhunter• 5 years ago

Happy to see phones with headphone jacks are still being produced. I bought the Pixel 4a 5G for the jack back in January thinking it might be my last.

Note: You'll need to watch more than 10 seconds of the video to understand the joke. The whisper voice echoes an English pronunciation of "Aluminum" with "Fancy Pronunciation," dispelling any confusion as to the seriousness of the ad.

dmead• 5 years ago

Come on. I literally just caved and got some Bluetooths..

adoxyz• 5 years ago

Nah this ain't it Google.

Shorn• 5 years ago

This feels like it was written by a Brit.

If it was, the fact a bunch of Yanks are taking it seriously will tickle them pink.

Google’s new ad goes full Jony Ive on the Pixel 5A headphone jack

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