Google's New Ad Reimagines the Declaration of Independence as a 1776 Group Project

Two and a half centuries after the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, Google is asking a cheeky question: What if Thomas Jefferson had access to Google Workspace? A new commercial, running with the tagline “Group project, but make it 1776,” imagines a largely unseen Jefferson getting a pesky text from Ben Franklin mid-draft. The ad then unfolds as an all-too-familiar modern collaboration: edits fly in Google Docs, a meeting gets scheduled in Calendar and held over Google Meet (with every attendee’s camera mysteriously off), and the final document gets e-signed before fireworks erupt.

Naturally, Google can't resist giving AI a cameo. The fictional founders use the “help me visualize” tool to test different animals for the national seal, Gemini takes meeting notes, and they even ask the chatbot how to politely decline King George III’s request for document access. The ad is playful—Sam Adams quips, “Can we settle this over beers?”—and the AI pitch feels restrained compared to past Google spots, like the infamous one where a dad uses Gemini to write a fan letter for his daughter. Still, the footage itself carries that slightly uncanny glow of AI-generated video.

Early reactions on YouTube and Instagram are mostly positive, but Bluesky users are less kind. Critics there call the ad “cringey” and “stunningly tone deaf,” with the AI angle drawing the sharpest fire. Historian Angus Johnston summed up a common sentiment: “Even in a corny fantasy joke, it’s impossible to make the case that AI is a useful tool for political organizing, writing, or human collaboration.” He noted, “It’s amazing how little of this is actually AI.”