Here’s Why Alexa Won’t Light Up During Amazon Super Bowl Ad

The Echo and Echo Plus

Photographer: Daniel Berman/Bloomberg
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Amazon.com Inc. is advertising its Alexa-powered speakers in the big game on Sunday. It’s an amusing 90 seconds that features celebrities like Gordon Ramsay, Rebel Wilson, Anthony Hopkins, Cardi B and the world’s wealthiest man, Jeff Bezos himself.

The word “Alexa” is uttered 10 times during the Super Bowl spot, but thankfully, the Amazon Echo in your living room isn’t going to perk up and try to respond. An Amazon spokeswoman is guarded about explaining exactly why, saying only, “We do alter our Alexa advertisements ... to minimize Echo devices falsely responding in customer’s homes.”