Amazon’s Alexa is being put into a lot of stuff these days, remarks an employee at Amazon headquarters upon seeing a voice-activated microwave at the beginning of this 90-second Super Bowl ad. “But trust me,” she says, “there are a lot of fails.”
Created by Lucky Generals and D1, Amazon’s internal creative agency, this star-studded spot goes for laughs and includes the likes of Forest Whitaker, Harrison Ford, “Broad City” duo Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, and astronaut brothers Scott and Mark Kelly—all of whom are seen struggling with funny but failed Alexa prototypes.
There’s the Alexa hot tub that violently pulsates water to the beat of music; then there’s the Alexa dog collar, which orders dog treats and sausages with every bark; there’s even the Alexa-enabled International Space Station that accidentally turns the world’s power grid on and off.
The ad was certainly popular, coming in at No. 2 in USA Today’s Ad Meter ranking.
“Not Everything Makes the Cut” marked Amazon’s fourth consecutive Super Bowl commercial promoting the Alexa device. Alexa made her Big Game debut in a 2016 commercial alongside Alec Baldwin, and has starred with high-profile celebrities ever since.
BRAND: Amazon Alexa
YEAR: 2019
AGENCY: Lucky Generals and D1 in-house
SUPER BOWL: LIII
QUARTER AIRED: Q4