Google is a dystopia in Blade Runner 2049 parody

Google had its annual I/O conference this week and, although the advancements in technology are generally a thing to be celebrated, a new video raises the question: What if it was bad?

Spencer Chen, the vice president of marketing and business development at the Alibaba Group, took the audio from the Blade Runner 2049 trailer and placed it on top of Google’s promotional video for its products. Chen said he didn’t alter or edit the audio to fit the trailer in any way, the end result was purely serendipitous. It can be seen below.

The mashup is a perfect and bizarre take on the consequences of technology, imagining a world where we are subject to the devices that surround us. Although Chen probably wasn’t looking to create a dystopian world ruled by Google, the theme of the video does touch upon important messages that director Denis Villeneuve, Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling wanted to get across in the film.

“To me, which is a little bit more interesting, it [Blade Runner 2049] acknowledges and deals with some of the ethical considerations that technology presents us with,” Ford said during a Q&A for the movie. “There's no such thing as a free lunch and we're really taking about both the benefit of technology and the social consequences of it in a way that I think is really interesting.”

Blade Runner has always been a franchise about the importance of technology and Villeneuve said 2049 will address our reliance on technology in our day-to-day lives.

Blade Runner 2049 will be released on Oct. 6.