--- description: Google has been trying to flip the lack of uniformity among Android devices into an advantage in its current ad campaign. title: Google Uses 'Rock Paper Scissors' to Attack Apple for Being Boring image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24fc00c2e2fac23/69887deeab6d7753dc6a876b/gettyimages-486234008-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Advertising](/tag/advertising/) ## Advertising Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Google Uses 'Rock Paper Scissors' to Attack Apple for Being Boring by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 29, 2016 9:42 PM CUT  MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 02: The new Google logo is displayed at the Google headquarters on September 2, 2015 in Mountain View, California. Google has made the most dramatic change to their logo since 1999 and have replaced their signature serif font with a new typeface called Product Sans. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - SEPTEMBER 02: The new Google logo is displayed at the Google headquarters on September 2, 2015 in Mountain View, California. Google has made the most dramatic change to their logo since 1999 and have replaced their signature serif font with a new typeface called Product Sans. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 29, 2016 9:42 PM CUT Google has been trying to flip the lack of uniformity among Android devices [into an advantage](http://time.com/4227196/google-iphone-one-note-piano/ "undefined") in its current ad campaign. The latest spot reiterates the mobile operating system’s “Be Together, Not the Same” tagline through the childhood game of rock, paper, scissors. In the ad, a teenaged sheet of paper attending Anthropomorphic High (our name, not Google’s) is being bullied by his pulp-based classmates when an unlikely hero comes to his rescue: A pair of scissors. Instead of violently slicing the cowering paper in half, scissors and paper become quick buddies. When these new friends venture outside, they see a rock getting harassed by—you guessed it—other rocks. Paper does his thing by scaring off rock, and the three not-at-all-human objects stride victoriously into the sunset. The spot is a not-so-subtle dig at the iPhone and its closed ecosystem, and perhaps implies some snobbery among Apple fans. While cute, the ad also brings to the fore an issue that’s troubled kids for generations. Rock could _obviously_ just tear through paper, rendering this whole playground ritual a hollow sham. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4242026/google-rock-paper-scissors-android-iphone-apple/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4242026/google-rock-paper-scissors-android-iphone-apple/"},"headline":"Google Uses 'Rock Paper Scissors' to Attack Apple for Being Boring","datePublished":"2016-02-29T21:42:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:49:33.933Z","description":"The nonsensical idea that paper could beat rock continues to be perpetuated","url":"https://time.com/4242026/google-rock-paper-scissors-android-iphone-apple/","keywords":["Advertising","Tech","Google","Android","commercial"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24fc00c2e2fac23/69887deeab6d7753dc6a876b/gettyimages-486234008-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24fc00c2e2fac23/69887deeab6d7753dc6a876b/gettyimages-486234008-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Google Updates Its Logo","caption":"Google Updates Its Logo","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/advertising/","name":"Advertising"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4242026/google-rock-paper-scissors-android-iphone-apple/","name":"Google Uses 'Rock Paper Scissors' to Attack Apple for Being Boring"}}]}] ```