Man uses Google Earth to reunite with his family | New Google Advertisement

Published October 17, 2013 at 1:40 pm

October 17, 2013 – If there were an award for Brand Whose Commercials Are Most Likely to Reduce Viewers to a Blubbering Mess of Tears, Google would certainly be one of the top contenders. While the search giant isn’t the only company to incorporate poignant storytelling into its marketing campaigns, it has created some truly memorable advertisements over the years.

However, it may have outdone itself with this most recent one.

Google’s newest commercial for Google Earth tells the story of Saroo Brierley, a 5-year-old Indian boy who was separated from his family after accidentally boarding an outbound train. Brierley was adopted and raised in Australia. For more than 25 years he tried to find his biological family, which proved to be a difficult task considering all he had were some visual memories of the place he once called home.

Eventually, Brierley decided to try out Google Earth, a virtual globe, map and geographical information program. After hours of using the program to search the entire country of India, he was able to locate his childhood home, prompting a trip to reunite with his mother, brother and sister.

Brierley recalls this incredible experience in the commercial:

“I came to the doorstep of the house where I was born and walked around about 15 meters around the corner, and there were three ladies standing outside adjacent to each other. And the middle one stepped forward and I just thought, ‘this is your mother.'”

Technology enables us to do some truly remarkable things, and the brands that are responsible for harnessing its power can use stories like Brierley’s to help them market their products. It’s a win-win situation, really.

“Everything we have in the world is at the tap of a button,” says Brierley, “but you’ve got to have the will and determination to wanting it.”