Damn, Google, this one really strikes a chord.

Earlier in the week, we looked at some of the brands that have releases teaser-style short adverts in the build-up to this Sunday’s Super Bowl 54, which sees the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the San Francisco 49ers.

There is plenty of promise amongst those teasers, but then Google comes along and drops ‘Loretta’ on us.

It’s designed to ‘catch you right in the feels’, as the kids (and some local news sites) insist on saying. If you’re going to watch the ad, there’s a good chance you’ll get at least a lump in the throat.

Oh, and it’s based on the real story of a Google employee’s grandfather, whose voice actually features in the advert.

Deep breath:

I did warn you.

In an attempt to help you move on with your day without becoming overly emotional, here are some hard truths from The Verge:

It’s just more of the creepy normalizing of internet surveillance that we’ll probably keep seeing from big internet companies as they insinuate themselves deeper and deeper into our daily lives…

Given all the ways it collects data on us, it’s depressing to consider that Google apparently doesn’t see anything unsettling about an ad that highlights a grieving widower providing the search giant with even more personal details. What kinds of ads would our voiceover man see in Google Chrome after feeding this information to Assistant — cruises to Alaska? Mustache trimmers? Funeral services? Gross, right? But that’s what Google’s good at: convincing us that, sure, you have to give up a little privacy, but look at all you get in return.

We’re all just feeding the Google monster, one day at a time.

While we’re talking about creepy privacy invasions and tracked advertising, you should also check out how Facebook has been following you around the internet.

No judgement if you still have a lump in your throat, though.

[source:verge]