Think of your top Christmas movies and I bet Home Alone (1&2) are both up there, and if not, they really should be. So, unsurprisingly, a grown-up Kevin McCallister using Google Assistant to do all the clever things he did in the first Home Alone movie, including scaring people off with the ‘keep the change, ya filthy animal’ line is definitely the best Christmas advert I have seen this year.
Google Assistant (GA) is an artificial virtual assistant which helps people to complete small day-to-day tasks and as of recently, it can also engage in two-way conversations, like a modern-day Siri. This clever device allows (a now thirty-eight year old) Kevin McCallister to achieve all the things he did in the first Home Alone movie, but with a bit more ease. He jumps all over his parents’ bed, and asks the device to remind him to clean the sheets later, he adds aftershave to his shopping list after using his Dad’s, it locks doors, changes the temperature and allows him to speak to someone at the door over his tablet device.
The great thing about this ad though, which is quite an art, is that it does not focus too much on the device, as viewers are simply lost in Kevin doing all the things a young Kevin did twenty-eight years ago. Culkin featuring was a surprise for most too, with his previous drug and family-related legal problems, coupled with his long disappearance from any serious limelight meant it was weird seeing his face on screens again. He has not fully grown out of his sweet but devious young Kevin McCallister face and was immediately recognisable for keen viewers.
“This short minute-long advert covers the best of Kevin McCalister”
The final scene shows the outside of the house after the ‘Wet Bandits’ leave under the mistaken assumption that the moving figures made inside are actually people and the text ‘Make Google do it.’ covers the screen. Although I do not personally want a Google Assistant device, being in agreement with many that these kind of devices, including Amazon’s increasingly popular ‘Alexa’ device, encourage laziness and reliance on technology, I think this advert was always bound to sell big, whatever the product. Also, to encourage more sales from this heartwarming ad, Google have set up a few Home Alone easter eggs on their Google Assistant devices, including ‘Hey Google, how much do I owe you?’ and ‘Hey Google, the wet bandits are here.’
This short minute-long advert covers the best of Kevin McCalister, from stuffing his face with chocolate and marshmallows to scaring off the ‘Wet Bandits’, it has it all. It is the one Christmas advert that made me not only happy, but nostalgic about all my past Christmas’, which have always involved little Kevin McCallister in one of his two amazing Home Alone movies.
Charlotte Hegley
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Featured image courtesy of YouTube.
