Product commercials are known to be sappy on occasion. Â It seems the pulling of our heartstrings is a proven selling technique right up there with sex and humor. Â Effective branding ads frequently play with our emotions, creating clever brand associations that, when they work, can be deep and lasting. Â Google has a winner with it’s current ad for Chrome, as a Dad’s love and pride for his daughter is brilliantly expressed through the thoughtful and personal digital history he creates for her, leveraging Gmail and other Google products from within his Chrome Â browser.

Scrap the Scrapbook!

Granted, this is a commercial, but the email diary Sophie’s Dad creates for her is a brilliant idea any Dad (or Mom) can use as a way to memorialize all those special moments as our kids grow from infancy to insanity. Â For a geek Dad this seems far better than a scrapbook. Â Just set up an email account for your kid, and start sending them emails, with pictures and videos as attachments. Â Then, one day, when they are old enough, and least expect it… hand over their username and password, and let them read through their life through your eyes! Â Easy. Fun. Touching. Brilliant! Â I wish I could have done this when my (now young adult) kids were kids. Â What do you think?

Here is the ad, “Dear Sophie.” (Hat tip to MG Siegler at TechCrunch, which is where I first saw the ad…)

ï»¿Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 22, Ethan, 20 and Olivia, 19). Â He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast. Â You can see more of Jeffâ€™s writing atÂ Sassholes! andÂ Social Networking Rehab and you can listen to Jeff on theÂ Cast of Dads podcast.ï»¿ï»¿