Perplexity AI is escalating its competition with Google through a celebrity-driven ad campaign featuring “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae. The campaign directly mocks Google’s search functionality while highlighting Perplexity’s AI-powered conversational search capabilities. This marketing strategy reveals how AI companies are increasingly focusing on reliability and accuracy as key differentiators in the rapidly evolving search market.
The campaign setup: Perplexity’s 90-second advertisement places Lee Jung-jae in a Squid Game-like scenario where he must complete various information-seeking challenges.
- In the first challenge, when trying to remove coffee stains from a white shirt, a Google parody called “Poogle” unhelpfully provides a list of blue links while Perplexity offers clear, step-by-step voice guidance.
- The ad specifically references Google’s infamous AI mistake by having Perplexity correctly explain how to make cheese stick to pizza while adding “Don’t use glue” – a direct jab at Google’s AI previously suggesting Elmer’s glue as a pizza ingredient.
Strategic timing: The campaign launch aligns with significant entertainment and business developments.
- The advertisement debuts just months before Netflix’s third and final season of Squid Game expected in June 2025.
- The campaign represents part of a yearlong partnership between Perplexity and Artist United, Lee Jung-jae’s co-owned company, which has also integrated Perplexity into its daily operations.
Global rollout: The advertisement is beginning a coordinated international release schedule.
- Starting in the U.S. today, the campaign will expand to Korea, Japan, and Europe over the next ten days.
- Each region will receive localized text and voiceover versions, though Jung-jae’s dialogue will remain in Korean throughout all versions.
Market implications: The campaign reveals Perplexity’s understanding of what consumers prioritize in AI assistants.
- By directly challenging Google’s reputation as the definitive online information authority, Perplexity is attempting to position itself as a more reliable alternative.
- Even modest success in eroding Google’s market dominance could significantly elevate Perplexity above competing AI search alternatives.
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