TL;DR Google has published new promo videos for the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro.
The Pixel 10 clip is classic Google, criticizing Apple fans for their “vanilla” choices.
The Pixel 10 Pro spot, on the other hand, is far more ethereal, and is more about making an impression.
Google does a lot of things very, very well, but you don’t have to be an iPhone fanboy to recognize that Apple is just running circles around the company when it comes to promotional efforts. Even at their best, Pixel ads tend to come across as quite odd, as we saw with the recent series of stop-motion “Best Phones Forever” spots surrounding the Pixel 10‘s launch. Now Google’s starting off this week with a couple new videos and they are just as weird as we’ve come to expect.
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The most stylistic, and arguably the more interesting ad here focuses on the Pixel 10 Pro and is at least ostensibly about the handset’s design:
Indeed, we do get a few lingering close-ups on the phone’s polished metal frame, an all-too-brief look at the jade color option, and just a hint of an x-ray view. But this still feels like it’s less about the actual design of the hardware, and more about a vibe Google is going for: organic, refinement, growth. It’s subtle, but among all those cuts we go from an unkempt overgrown path to a meticulously manicured garden.
We’re still not sure just how well that will come through to viewers, but it’s a nice, artistic approach. Instead of beating them over the head with “Pixel does this but iPhone doesn’t,” this spot instead tries to sell shoppers on the feeling of being a Pixel owner.
Then just a few hours ago, Google published a new video about the Pixel 10. This one’s a much more traditional approach from Google, with a light-hearted message presenting Pixel phones with Gemini as the more intentional, superior choice to going with same old iPhone Pro that everyone you know seems to just purchase by default.
We doubt this is going to convert any iPhone fans (making fun of people tends to not be the best way to turn them into your customers), but the video is still a fair amount of fun, thanks to a few silly scenes of soft-serve ice cream standing in for those iPhones (and making an outright mess).
As an outspoken fan of vanilla as a complex, irreproachable flavor (and not just the default “nothing special” option) I take personal offense at that depiction, but that’s a whole different battle. What do you think about Google’s latest Pixel ads? Is one of these more successful than the other? Are neither to your taste? Share your own take down in the comments!
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