Just a few weeks after launching its first AI-generated ad, Google has returned with something a little more realistic, but just as timely. Ahead of the holidays, the company is throwing a Love Actually reunion in its latest Pixel ad, even if the star might not be as famous as he thinks he is.
In Google’s new video — appropriately titled, “It’s Pixel, Actually,” — actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster revisits a handful of shooting locations and moments from the movie, only to find he’s not actually the focus of those seemingly taking photos of him. Brodie-Sangster played Sam in the film, the precocious son of Liam Neeson’s character who learns how to play the drums in order to impress his crush at school. Here, Brodie-Sangster seems just as excited to be noticed throughout various shooting locations ahead of Christmas, only for those around him to snap Pixel 10 Pro-produced 100x zoom photos of other subjects instead.
Among those other subjects, by the way, include Martine McCutcheon, the actress who played Hugh Grant’s love interest Natalie in the film, cementing this ad as an unofficial Love Actually reunion. We also watch as strangers ignore Brodie-Sangster for a kid dressed up as a lobster, a stranger dancing in the background, and, of course, a Pixel billboard at the end of the video.
It’s entirely possible I’ve missed other references in this video; Love Actually isn’t my go-to Christmas film, even if some of its more infamous moments do remain iconic. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t link to this classic deleted scene of Brodie-Sangster’s character doing gymnastics through the airport during the climax of the movie, something that is, unfortunately, not recreated in this ad. Maybe next year, Google.
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