Come On, Put This Google-Owned Surveillance Device in Your House. It'll Be Great!

How do you convince regular people to buy Google-owned monitoring gadgets and install them in their homes?

First, don’t mention Google in your nationally televised ads.

Next, make those ads pretty funny.

That’s the strategy Google’s Nest is taking in TV ads — its first campaign — that started running today for its connected thermostat, its connected smoke alarm and its Dropcam monitors.

I’m on the fence about the need for any of these things in my home, but I do appreciate the tack Nest is taking here: Yes, it’s at least a tiny bit weird to put these things into your home. But they’re also cool. And you’re cool, for getting why they’re weird and cool.

http://youtu.be/oxOukh_Ma6o

http://youtu.be/rNTvLXisS6M

http://youtu.be/mvnalAlFos0

http://youtu.be/mDiUQmO0_VI

Another way you could go for these things is to make a cute little music video — with a straightforward tag line — for them. That’s what British Gas has done for its Hive system. I kind of like it.

http://youtu.be/k-MRkC5DqFQ

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

We're here to shed some clarity

One of our core beliefs here at Vox is that everyone needs and deserves access to the information that helps them understand the world, regardless of whether they can pay for a subscription. With the 2024 election on the horizon, more people are turning to us for clear and balanced explanations of the issues and policies at stake. We’re so grateful that we’re on track to hit 85,000 contributions to the Vox Contributions program before the end of the year, which in turn helps us keep this work free. We need to add 2,500 contributions this month to hit that goal. Will you make a contribution today to help us hit this goal and support our policy coverage? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via