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| Author | Joby Reeves |
Google Pixel is launching a brand-new, Wicked: For Good ad in UK cinemas featuring its latest Google Pixel 10 phone. It continues the tech giant’s two-year sponsorship of ODEON’s Turn Your Phone Off (TYPO) message, adding a third consecutive cinema campaign to transforms the TYPO spot into a clever, high-production ad centred around its Gemini AI assistant.
With popcorn crunching and Glinda and Elphaba appearing on the big screen, an enthusiastic cinemagoer interrupts the trailer to ask, “Gemini, will Elphaba defeat the Wizard?” Jeering audience members spin around to see the illuminated figure who quickly hides her phone and cuts Gemini’s voice. The creative ends with a simple message to the audience: “Ask more of your phone, just not during the film.”
It’s a new take on cinema’s scheduled Turn Your Phone Off segment, which playfully blends Google Pixel 10 branding with Wicked: For Good’s IP.
The ad was produced by Digital Cinema Media’s (DCM) creative arm, DCM Studios, and shot by Electric Studios, with creative delivered by Ogilvy. DCM Studios’ ad builds on two successful campaigns for Google Pixel 8 and 9 which playfully linked Google Pixel’s Audio Magic Eraser feature with the turn your phone off message.
The three-month campaign, brokered by Digital Cinema Media and EssenceMediacom, will run ahead of all major cinematic releases, including showings of Wicked: For Good in November and December.
Jeremy Kolesar, Creative Director at DCM Studios said, “You can’t just ride the coattails of a cultural moment like Wicked; to be effective, you need to harness its content and merge it seamlessly with the product and environment. Last year, our Audio Magic Eraser campaign with Google Pixel 9 offered a unique way to use the cinema TYPO slot, and this year, we’ve upped the production value to an entirely new level. With the right strategy and creativity, conventional messaging can become memorable and effective advertising.”