May. 10th 2019 3:17 pm

The Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL went immediately on sale at physical and online retailers after Google announced them on stage at I/O 2019 on Tuesday. Similarly, the marketing campaign is in full swing with one billboard from Made by Google driving home camera performance and price versus “Phone X.”

Google began this Night Sight advertising campaign calling out the iPhone XS in February. Just before the Super Bowl, Google released side-by-side comparisons of the Pixel’s Night Sight mode versus the iPhone’s low-light performance.

Beyond social media, Google has physical billboards for this advertising campaign. They are continuing this line of attack for the Pixel 3a with a new billboard that 9to5Mac’s Michael Steeber spotted in Washington, D.C. — amusingly near Apple’s new Carnegie Library store. (Update: A second identical ad was spotted in the D.C. area.)

For its latest phone, Google added prices to the billboard to distinguish how its cheaper phone takes better pictures in the dark compared to a flagship. Night Sight’s computational photography prowess is available on all Pixel phones dating to the original in 2016.

On first glance, “Phone X” might harken to 2017’s iPhone X, but fine print in past ads specified how the competing shot was taken on an iPhone XS, with the $999 price point today backing that up.

In addition to the Pixel 3a vs iPhone ad, Google released a slew of videos this week for the mid-range device. They amusingly feature Awkwafina and 2 Chainz highlighting various aspects of the new phone, including Night Sight, Google Assistant, Lens, photo backup, and all-day battery life.

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