Google's new 5G Pixel 6 ad celebrates the "Official Fan Phone of the NBA"

Overlooked during the unveiling of the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro back in October was a social media post from Google exclaiming that the new Android handsets were "The Official Fan Phones of the NBA." Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo (the "Greek Freak") was named the "new face of the Google #Pixel6." He was photographed with the Cloudy White Pixel 6 Pro, and in a selfie shot snapped by the phone.

Today, Christmas Day, Google released a new ad perfectly timed for the traditional Christmas Day NBA triple-header on ABC-TV. Titled "Google Pixel 6-For All The Fans," the 60-second spot is sure to be seen during the three games as Google continues to market its latest stock Android flagships.

The ad starts by showing the celebration that the city of Milwaukee held after the Bucks won their second title last year, 30 years after winning their first championship with a young Lew Alcindor (now, of course, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). So the television commercial calls out Bucks fans, Suns fans,  and those in Serbia who became Nuggets fans because of Denver's Nikola Jokic, the NBA's reigning MVP.

Showing off one of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro's most popular features, Google called on one of the most popular all-time greats. Who else would Google turn to to promote the Magic Eraser than Magic Johnson? This feature, which is one of several driven by the AI/ML magic that Google has installed in the Pixel (mostly thanks to the home-grown Tensor chip) allows the user to remove unwanted people and items from photographs.

Google Pixel 6

The Pixel 6 is also available at BestBuy with our without carrier plan activation. All storage and color versions are in stock.

$599

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Google Pixel 6 Pro

Same BestBuy conditions apply to the Pixel 6 Pro too. You can get an unlocked version or a version with a carrier plan.

$899 ⁹⁹

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To show how Magic Eraser works, the ad shows three female Miami Heat fans standing together with a fan of another team posing in the background. But thanks to the Magic Eraser, the photobomber was erased from the photograph.

Other fans are seen int he commercial including a Knicks fan uttering the team's "Bing Bong" catchphrase and a Brooklyn Nets fan buying a Kevin Durant jersey is labeled a  bandwagon fan. That could be true considering that the team has the best record in the Eastern Conference led by the MVP play of Durant.

Yes, NBA fans of all types are celebrated in this commercial. And with the Pixel 6 series' Titan M security chip providing "defense," the video likens the chip's privacy protection to rejected shots (aka "blocks") in the NBA. "There are so many ways to love the NBA," says Google, "and the Pixel 6 is built for all of them."

While it almost feels as though there is a different issue with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro every day, all of them can be fixed with a software update. And truthfully, many Pixel buyers were aware of the history of the line. Almost every full-sized Pixel suffered from some bugs right after they were released and Google was able to fix the ones that they could while exchanging those with screen burn-in (seen on the Pixel 2 line) for a new unit.

The one complaint that we see pop up time and again is the slow in-display optical fingerprint scanner. Google has already sent out a software update to improve the experience of using it, but for some, there was no improvement. There is a possibility that Google has a huge belated holiday present for Pixel 6 Pro users that will make it easier for them to unlock their phones.

As we mentioned earlier this month, code found in the Android 12L beta hints at a future update that would bring Face Unlock to the Pro version of the new Pixel 6 lineup. You might recall that Google included Face Unlock with the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL back in 2017. The feature could be included in a future Pixel feature drop with the next one due in March.