Fred Armisen stars in Google’s new smart speaker campaign, kicks off month of deals

On Monday, Google has dropped a couple of commercials starring actor, writer, and comedian Fred Armisen – both of which feel very much like skits from the actor’s TV Show Portlandia. The first ad is called “The Nest Meditation Guru | Find Inner Peace, Instantly”. This one shows the Nest Home’s abilities to play relaxing music or sounds – which feels like something that any person would want for their sanity during these strange times.

The other video is Google’s way of kicking off a month of promotions leading up to the end of the summer. Google calls it “The Daily Special” and will offer daily deals on its Nest Home and smart home products. Through Armisen’s repertoire of kooky characters, he shows the different things you can ask Google to do and shows the Nest Home’s smart doorbell integration and Duo Video call capabilities.

You can head to GoogleStore.com to see Google’s daily promotional specials on Nest Home items. With Google preparing to release a new Nest Home speaker, and its hardware event around the corner, a month of hardware promotions seems like a sensible way of clearing older inventory in anticipation of new devices. The current Nest Home deal is save $20 on a 2-pack of Nest Mini. (originally $98, currently $78).

Google’s expected to announce new Google Pixel devices, including the long-delayed Google Pixel 4a, and at least one (perhaps two) new Pixel 5 mid-range models. It’s been previously reported that Google is sitting on Pixel 4a stock but has been waiting for the right moment to drop the phone. With all the time passed, it feels like Google is just waiting to announce it alongside the Pixel 5.

Alleged leaked renders of Pixel 5 (left) and Pixel 5 XL (right)

Google’s hardware events historically take place sometime in October. This year’s Pixels will be so different, however, that we wouldn’t rule out a change in the event’s date to sometime closer to September 8, which is when Google is expected to release the final version of Android 11.

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