Column: How a commercial makes smartphones talk
A COLUMN of Dominik Klinger 
Recently, Burger King used the voice control on Google Home devices and smartphones for an advertisement. But: will it stay with this one case or could a commercial really allow arbitrary things to happen in the future?
First of all: Since Android 5.0 (Lollipop) there is voice recognition for Google search on Android smartphones. By having the user say “Okay Google”, the smartphone can be used to search for things. For example, you want to find out about the barbecue weather for Saturday. You say: “Okay Google. How will the weather be on Saturday? ”. Your friend and helper - the smartphone - will tell you that Saturday will be a warm and sunny day.
But what does that have to do with a commercial? Very easily. The burger chain "Burger King" published an advertising spot at the beginning of April that is quite something. There a nice Burger King employee introduces the Whopper. But that is not how it remains. The camera zooms in on his face and the trap snaps shut: he says into the camera, “Okay, Google. What is the Whopper burger? ". All smartphones or Google Home devices that are in the vicinity of the television now tell what the Whopper Burger is.
Here is the full length English commercial. Don't worry, it only takes 15 seconds:
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Ingenious advertising - or just plain stupid?
Opinions are divided. Many were just annoyed because the cell phones started to rave about the Whopper in every advertising block. Who would want that?
The topic was hotly debated on many sites on the Internet, making Burger King's Whopper the topic of the week. Such advertising is called viral advertising. So a successful advertising that spreads socially via word of mouthprospread paganda. And even smartphones rave about it - perfect, right? 😉
What is your opinion?
How successful was the advertisement?
According to Google Trends, there were increased inquiries in the US at the time. Make your own picture of it in the following graphics:
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By country
Google reacts spontaneously but correctly!
It only took a few hours and the fun was over. The exact phrase "What is the Whopper burger" is no longer answered by smart home devices. Google simply banned this combination from voice search.
This kind of brazen advertising has not yet been exploited by any other company, surprising. On the other hand, it is our own fault: our world is getting smarter and everyone wants simple voice input. But this could still be fatal for us in the future. Google and other manufacturers must quickly follow suit and train their virtual assistants on voices so that they can differentiate between the owner and “outside influence”. Let's see who is faster: The industry or Google ... 😉
In all honesty: this advertisement is cheeky. Even if it may be funny, it doesn't work. This is too massive an invasion of privacy because his smartphone is being misused.
On the other hand, it is also good to motivate Google to implement this recognition function faster.
Hello Emil!
I see it the same way. Even if that may be funny, it is certainly not funny for the viewer if his devices tell something about the Whopper during every commercial break. I also hope that Google will quickly release an update and allow the owner's voice to be recognized.
That is really not possible. I'm against it, too, that's why I am up there too Just annoying voted.
it's also a pretty funny advertisement when you see what's possible these days. I only say: it's your own fault: P