
As reported in Wednesday’s edition of Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief, Pizza Hut intends to start testing something called the FedEx SameDay Bot to deliver pizza in Memphis starting this summer. But in “Meet the FedEx SameDay Bot,” an ad that started airing on national TV last night (premiering in a 30-second version during “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” according to iSpot.tv), the autonomous delivery vehicle is supposed to be more than just a pizza delivery boy. Watch it in action above and then take in some of our thoughts and, uh, concerns:
1. This FedEx SameDay Bot has a gloriously (and unrealistically) simple existence: It’s shown navigating uncrowded sidewalks and crosswalks on a sunny day, successfully gliding through shallow puddles and potholes, coming to a gentle stop as a child’s basketball rolls in front of it in slow motion, and climbing the wide, unobstructed steps of a perfectly maintained porch. (A third of the way into the ad we see a tiny type disclaimer that reads “Prototype in development and testing in 2019. Closed course.” Duly noted.)
2. The bot, it turns out, has shown up with cough medicine for a sick child. So hey, y’all! Need some pizza and/or meds? Why not, you know, “flag down” the next FedEx SameDay Bot you see?
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