Google’s second Super Bowl LIII commercial wasn’t meant for everybody. In fact, only about 7 percent of the American public may understand its message; “The 7 percent who sleep in the cold, sleep in the rain, and sometimes don’t sleep at all,” according to the ad.
This 60-second ad shows off a relatively new search feature that Google implemented to make it easier for veterans to find civilian jobs related to what they did in the military by factoring in their Military Occupational Specialty codes. Dozens of MOS codes flash on the screen in this 60-second ad, but the narrator (voiced by John Krasinski) never explains what they mean.
Designations in this third-quarter spot range from 11B (infantryman) to 21E (heavy construction equipment operator), copied from military forms that span decades, in a wink to veterans and their loved ones who would surely recognize these codes immediately.
Created in-house by Google Creative Labs, with media by Essence and PHD, this ad is estimated to have cost more than $10 million to air—a big gamble when it’s only geared toward a fraction of Super Bowl viewers. However, the concept seems to have paid off, with the “Job Search for Veterans” spot placing in the top 10 in USA Today’s Ad Meter ranking.
This patriotic spot was one of two Google created for Super Bowl LIII; the other, which ran earlier in the game, plugged Google Translate and focused on languages far more familiar to the masses.
BRAND: Google
YEAR: 2019
AGENCY: Google Creative Lab
SUPER BOWL: LIII
QUARTER AIRED: Q3