TL;DR
- Google’s been doing “Wicked” media tie-ins since the arrival of the first movie.
- With the second about to come out, we just got a “Wicked” theme in the new Pixel Drop.
- Now that’s being joined by the latest #BestPhonesForever animated video.
Google knows that smartphones don’t exist in a world by themselves, and over the years the company’s shown its willingness to promote both Android itself and Pixel devices with the help of some timely media tie-ins. Maybe that means showing off its AR tech with some help from The Mandalorian, or using the cameras on Pixel phones to record the highlights from the NBA All-Star Weekend. Right now, Google is all about the new “Wicked” movie, coming to theaters this Friday, and its latest promotional effort is a profoundly weird Pixel animation.
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These “Wicked” promotions are nothing really new — Google offered tie-ins with the first film, too, including a Search Easter egg. More recently, we’ve been tracking Google’s work on its Android Theme Manager, and with this month’s Pixel Drop, the first set arrived: your choice of three “Wicked: For Good” themes. But it turns out Google’s far from done, and earlier today the company released its latest animation in its Pixel & iPhone #BestPhonesForever series:
Full disclosure: I have not seen the musical, read the book, nor watched the first film (beyond enough to understand the Popular “RIGHT!” meme). So you’re going to have to forgive me, Google, but this does not make a whole lot of sense to me.
OK, we’ve got an iPhone that’s become something of a Pixel stan, thanking our Pixel 10 here for showing it the way when it comes to AI — and we’re getting this hot on the heels of news concerning Apple’s investment in Gemini. But then… well, as song breaks out, the iPhone credits the Pixel with helping it find its true identity, which… huh?
The two phones start up a duet, snuggling in close by the end and… that’s it?
Sure, Google might have a few things to teach Apple when it comes to delivering AI-powered features for its mobile devices, but seeing our Glinda iPhone here fawn quite so hard feels a bit much. Certainly, an iPhone’s identity is rooted in a whole lot more than a few AI features — we doubt many devotees would top their list of defining iPhone qualities with any such AI tricks.
If this makes more sense to any of you, by all means: Explain it to us down in the comments.
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