The month of March marked one year in the pandemic for the U.S. and we can all agree that around this time last year, we had no clue what we were in for. Life as we knew it was flipped upside down. At one point, it became hard to imagine a world without the coronavirus. However, Google was able to show us that world in their new advertisement encouraging viewers to get vaccinated.
The commercial was posted on YouTube towards the end of March but was aired publicly for the first time during the NCAA Final Four games on Saturday. Following the first airing, the Youtube video spiked in popularity, now acquiring over seven million views.
Entitled, “Get Back to What You Love,” the ad features words and phrases being typed into the infamous Google search bar; that we know so well by now. The piano track accompanying the spot gives you the feeling that you might shed a tear or two.
Typed in the search bar were various terms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including “quarantine,” “social distancing,” “lockdown” and so on. These words may have never been typed into our Google search pre-pandemic, but we can all admit that we looked them up when this all began.
As the ad continues, the words in the search bar start to disappear. One by one, the words related to the pandemic are “backspaced” and “deleted.” This is a symbol of the idea that we will no longer have to look up “school closings” or “restrictions de voyage” when we get rid of this virus. We can hear the sounds of children playing and people socializing in the background.
A major part of the minute-long ad was the erasing of the word “virtual.” We will be able to have happy hours, parties and playdates without having them through our computers in the (hopefully) near future.
Restaurants are opening. Theaters are opening. Churches are opening. Google perfectly highlighted these glimpses of hope from the slowing pandemic.
Towards the end, the tagline, “get back to what you love” appears on the screen. However, the commercial doesn’t end there. There is one final phrase typed into the Google search bar: “covid vaccine near me.”
The sentimental message of the commercial is clear. Soon, we will be able to take our lives off hold and start living as we normally would. Google makes it clear though; that this isn’t possible without mass vaccination.
For a corporation like Google to send this message encouraging vaccinations, it’s a big deal.
Google captured the hopeful thoughts we all need right now. We have all gone through so much during this pandemic, altering our lives dramatically in the process. Google put it perfectly; it’s time to start getting back to what we love.
