Google has yanked an ad from NBC’s Olympics broadcasts meant to highlight the power of its Gemini AI tool — but which critics blasted as a bizarrely tone-deaf execution.
In the 60-second ad, “Dear Sydney,” a father wants to help his daughter write a letter to her idol, Olympic track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. In a voiceover, the dad says his daughter “might even be the world’s No. 1 Sydney fan.” (According to Google, the father and daughter are real-life people.) Then, in a jarring turn of events, he asks Google’s Gemini AI to “help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney how inspiring she is and be sure to mention that my daughter plans on breaking her world record one day. (She says sorry, not sorry.)”
Criticism of the ad was nearly immediate after it began airing across NBCU networks starting last week, with commenters focused on the absurdity of using AI to produce a heartfelt missive. “Obviously there are special circumstances and people who need help, but as a general ‘look how cool, she didn’t even have to write anything herself!’ story, it SUCKS,” Linda Holmes, a novelist and host of podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, wrote in a July 27 post on Threads. “Who wants an AI-written fan letter??”
In a statement provided to Ad Age, Google said, “While the ad tested well before airing, given the feedback, we’ve decided to phase the ad out of our Olympics rotation.” The “Dear Sydney” spot is still available on Google’s YouTube account (at this link).
Previously, Google had defended the spot — which was created by its in-house creative team — saying in a statement: “We believe that AI can be a great tool for enhancing human creativity, but can never replace it. Our goal was to create an authentic story celebrating Team USA. It showcases a real-life track enthusiast and her father, and aims to show how the Gemini app can provide a starting point, thought starter, or early draft for someone looking for ideas for their writing.”
The “Dear Sydney” kerfuffle comes after Apple — considered a gold standard of marketing savvy — evoked a similar backlash over its “Crush!” ad promoting the new, ultra-thin iPad Pro depicting cultural artifacts being destroyed in a hydraulic press. Apple apologized for the spot (it remains available online but never aired on TV), saying the tech company “missed the mark.” That came after Hugh Grant and other Hollywood figures blasted the ad as a literal illustration of Big Tech laying waste to human culture.