You might have heard that two professional American football sports teams — to be specific, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots — are set to go head-to-head at Super Bowl LII this weekend.
While the main event involves adult male athletes throwing around the old pigskin around for millions of dollars, everyone knows the true draw of the Super Bowl are the cultural event’s bombastic, over-the-top commercials — well that and the food.
The latest in what’s set to be a string of ultra-expensive, overly elaborate ads come from Amazon. The teaser for what seems to be a longer commercial, features Amazon’s CEO and co-founder Jeff ‘Swole’ Bezos, as well as the tech giant’s voice-activated assistant Alexa. The 30 second clip that starts out with a woman brushing her teeth while asking Alexa about the weather.
Next, Alexa says that it’s set to be 60-degrees Fahrenheit (whatever that means) in Austin, before coughing and then going silent. The clip then shifts to a news report stating that Alexa has lost her voice. A rather shook-looking Bezos then shows up on the screen and is informed by an Amazon employee that the “replacements are ready.”
While an amusing ad on its own, it looks like Amazon could be planning to release additional voices for Alexa. If that turns out to be the case, this would add a welcome level of customization to Amazon’s voice activated assistant. In comparison, Google Home is capable of switching between an American, Australian and British accent.
Also, did you know that the Canadian and U.S. Alexa have different voices? Why, you might be asking? I’m not entirely sure, but it’s true. Years after the device’s U.S. release, the Amazon Echo finally made its way to Canada a few months ago.
