Nickelback’s 2005 post-grunge soft-rock hit “Photograph” has always been ripe for parody and now Nickelback themselves have joined in by creating a hilarious new advert to promote Google Photos. Is it my hair or just a ramen bowl?
In the mid- to late-Noughties, it wasn’t unusual to hurt your throat slightly while attempting to emulate Chad Kroeger’s stereotypically strained vocals, and parodies have not been in short supply. Perhaps the most notable was this 2012 effort from College Humor which featured the lines “Look at this Instagram, eggs Benedict side of ham” and "You haven't ever really seen a setting sun til you've seen it on the screen while you play Temple Run."
Whether Nickelback has always seen the funny side or whether it’s just taken 15 years for them to get there is not clear, but either way, this advert for Google Photos is wonderfully self-aware while also doing a fine job of promoting the app’s ability to keep your memories safe and accessible.
Nickelback is thought to be working on its tenth studio album though the band has stated that it's not in any rush to release it. Bass player Mike Kroeger suggested that he was interested in making an album of Slayer cover songs which would be an interesting change of direction and perhaps be less viable as adverts for Google Photos.
