Tech media outlet AppleInsider published an article yesterday (November 21) reporting that Google has released a new advertisement, launching another marketing attack on Apple's iPhone.
Citing the article via modezone.com, the ad cleverly borrows inspiration from the famous musical Wicked, portraying Google's Pixel 10 Pro as the "behind-the-scenes inspiration" for many new features on the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro, thereby emphasising its leading position in innovation.
In this 60-second commercial, the two phones are personified: the purple iPhone 17 Pro portrays the kind-hearted "good witch" Glinda from the musical, while the green Pixel 10 Pro assumes the role of the misunderstood "wicked witch" Elphaba. Drawing from the original storyline, the ad depicts the iPhone expressing "gratitude" toward the Pixel and openly acknowledging that many of the Pixel's innovative features inspired it.
Through song and dance, Google conveys its core message: Pixel phones were the pioneers of many innovative features, while the iPhone has merely followed and imitated. The ad highlights explicitly three features that Google claims Pixel introduced first:
- Call screening (to filter spam/robocalls)
- Removing unwanted objects from photos (the well-known Magic Eraser tool)
- Building a truly conversational AI assistant
Google implies that these now-popular features originated on Pixel and were later adopted by the iPhone.
The outlet notes that this kind of "shade-throwing" marketing has become a routine tactic for Google. For example, in 2023, Google launched a series of ads titled Best Phones Forever, humorously depicting the iPhone 14 Pro and Pixel phones resolving their rivalry and becoming friends. Those ads typically focused on feature comparisons or directly criticised the iPhone's shortcomings in areas like conversational AI.
The above content is compiled by ModeZone, a fashion and entertainment magazine.
