{"id":422779,"date":"2026-01-19T07:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T07:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/422779\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T07:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T07:10:10","slug":"google-pixel-taps-f1-star-piastris-dry-humour-in-new-switch-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/422779\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Pixel taps F1 star Piastri\u2019s dry humour in new ‘Switch’ campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rising Formula One star Oscar Piastri has brought his trademark deadpan manner to a new Google Pixel campaign that playfully riffs on his high-profile switch from Alpine to McLaren.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne driver appears in the \u201cExcited on the Inside\u201d video campaign, delivering a low-key voiceover that contrasts with visual cues referencing his career move, including the swapping of a snow-covered mountain mural for a papaya painting \u2014 a nod to McLaren\u2019s team colour.<\/p>\n

The campaign forms part of Google\u2019s long-running effort to convince largely Millennial consumers to switch from their entrenched loyalty to iPhones to Pixel devices, drawing a parallel with Piastri\u2019s own decision to change teams.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In a 30-second video, Piastri is shown in what appears to be his apartment, fiddling with a remote-control car and glancing at images of his previous trophy wins, his neutral expression rarely changing.<\/p>\n

ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I don\u2019t always show it, but winning does excite me,\u201d he says in a voiceover. \u201cSo, when I see a chance to get ahead, I will change things up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, why would you want anything less than the best. It\u2019s why I switched to Google Pixel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Created by Emotive, the spot further leans into Piastri\u2019s dry humour when he asks Google\u2019s Gemini AI to help him draft a race-winning speech. Gemini suggests he simply say \u201cthanks,\u201d to which Piastri deadpans: \u201cPerfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Google Gemini was used to generate\/manipulate still images in the spot<\/p>\n

Speaking to Mumbrella of Piastri\u2019s campaign appeal, Emotive chief creative officer Gavin McLeod said: \u201cOscar is massively connected with the Millennial audience, which is our kind of core audience. Last year, his almost winning the World Championship really catapulted him into the top table.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone will admire Oscar because he\u2019s unbelievably good at what he does, but he\u2019s also so authentically true to himself; he\u2019s so mature beyond his 24 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe underplayed nature of Oscar is so different to most celebrity stuff you see on TV \u2026 it\u2019s allowing him to be himself in that moment,\u201d McLeod said.<\/p>\n

Released to coincide with the Australian Open, the Pixel campaign also includes a 15-second clip in which Piastri asks Gemini whether he could win the tournament. The AI dryly replies: \u201cProbably not.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Although Piastri appears at home, the ad was actually filmed in Mexico, where he was racing. Explaining the process, McLeod, who joined Emotive last year as its first chief creative officer, said:<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were quite intentional about capturing content in ways that could create multiple spots and social assets, maximising the four hours we had with Oscar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of AI was used in the production, including creating images like the painting, using tools like [Gemini\u2019s AI image generator] Nano Banana, but nothing is manufactured or fake: it\u2019s real content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Australian ad is part of a long-running campaign featuring sports stars who have \u201cswitched\u201d to Google Pixel phones. The campaign kicked off in January last year with former English Premier League star Sol Campbell, who famously switched from rivals Tottenham to Arsenal.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It has also included basketball player Stephen Curry, who, in contrast, has stayed with the same team for 17 years.<\/p>\n

McLeod added that Piastri\u2019s own \u201cswitch,\u201d along with other Formula One references, is hidden in at least 10 \u201cEaster eggs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ad has dissectible content \u2026 hardcore F1 fans will freeze-frame and notice every detail, but there\u2019s still appeal for people who might not get every reference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Speaking over email to Mumbrella about Google\u2019s overall strategy, ANZ director of device marketing Julia Davis said:<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch tells us that there is significant stagnancy in the smartphone market, driven by a sense of consumer apathy, where people stick with the same devices year after year, even when those phones no longer meet their evolving needs. By showcasing his own switch to Pixel, we illustrate the benefit of choosing a better option.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe collaborated closely with Oscar and his team to capture the perfect creative hook: a play on the juxtaposition between his famously calm, composed exterior and the genuine internal excitement we know he feels for finding something better that gives him the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about the campaign\u2019s media strategy, which was handled by Essence MediaCom, Davis said the decision to launch during the Australian Open was designed to \u201ccapture a premium audience during one of Australia\u2019s most significant cultural milestones\u201d, and will span TV, online video and social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Oscar Piastri creative assets will be integrated with broader sponsorship touchpoints designed to amplify brand salience for Google Pixel, alongside contextual integrations to encourage our consumers to switch phones,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Campaign Credits<\/p>\n

Client: Google Australia<\/p>\n

Chief Marketing Officer: Suzana Ristevski<\/p>\n

Director of Devices Marketing: Julia Davis<\/p>\n

Senior Marketing Manager: Nicole Lendarduzzi<\/p>\n

Marketing Manager: Nicholas Hirst<\/p>\n

Marketing Manager: Maggie Pan<\/p>\n

Creative Agency: Emotive<\/p>\n

CEO & Founder: Simon Joyce<\/p>\n

Executive Strategy Partner: Sebastian Revell<\/p>\n

Chief Creative Officer: Gavin McLeod<\/p>\n

Creative Direction: Justin Drape via Creativity & Commerce<\/p>\n

Head of Earned Creative: Jessica Cluff<\/p>\n

Senior Creative Director: Rupert Taylor<\/p>\n

Associate Creative Director: Edward Macaulay<\/p>\n

Head of Design: Daniel Mortensen<\/p>\n

Senior Designer\/Animator: Chris Cooper<\/p>\n

Business Director: Monika Vidovic<\/p>\n

Senior Account Manager: Tyler Ronaldson<\/p>\n

Head of Production: Hayley-Ritz Pelling<\/p>\n

Senior Producer: Cate Hartmann<\/p>\n

Senior Video Editor: Sam Gadsden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rising Formula One star Oscar Piastri has brought his trademark deadpan manner to a new Google Pixel campaign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,835,816,10893,2333,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-422779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula-one","13":"tag-formula1","14":"tag-google-pixel","15":"tag-oscar-piastri","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}