Google Launches Karate Tutorial To Advertise Its Pixel Phone Lineup

Google is trying to make one thing clear in advertisements for its Pixel phone lineup: it’s easy to make the switch.

The tech company has released a new video clip advertising the Google Pixel phone. The advertisement is titled ‘Switch to the New Google Pixel (and Do Yoko Uke in Karate),’ and cuts between two tutorials. As the title suggests, the narrator describes how to perform karate moves, while also describing how to switch to a Google Pixel from a competing phone brand.

The implication, it seems, is that switching to the Pixel is easier than learning karate – in other words, the viewer should not fear that changing their phone brand will be a hassle.

This ad follows another video from Google that caught some attention on the web. Called ‘How to Mindfully Switch to the New Google Pixel,’ the video uses ASMR – a trendy video format in which the narrator whispers and makes calming noises – to imply that switching from a competitor to Google Pixel is a relaxing experience.

Google is not a leader in phone sales, but the company’s approach to advertising their phone lineup is certainly interesting. The two video ads use trendy formats to get their point across. The ‘mindful’ ad relies on the ASMR trend: between 2017 and 2018, the amount of time Youtube users spent watching videos considered ‘relaxing’ increased by 70%.

The karate ad is trendy, too: more than half of users in a poll revealed they watch at least two instructional videos per week.

Are the ads actually good, though? Critics are divided. One writer described the ‘ASMR’ ad as “brilliant“, while another writer considered the karate ad to be a downgrade:

“It lacks the same oddness factor that made the ASMR video interesting,” said MobileSyrup writer Jonathan Lamont. “We’ve now got two ads from Google highlighting how easy it is to switch to Pixel, and no ads explaining why anyone should.” Experts expect Google to launch the Pixel 6 phone this fall, so only time will tell whether or not Google’s unique approach to advertising the device actually pays off.

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