Publisher Merriam-Webster is out with a new campaign celebrating the release of the 12th edition of its 194-year-old eponymous dictionary.   

Agency Nail Communications created a tongue-in-cheek campaign that positions the dictionary as the “original Large Language Model.”  

“It’s the dawn of the AI era,” intones the narrator of one spot, “and we are proud to introduce our latest large language model,” referring to the 12th edition of the dictionary.  

Visuals include graphics, amplifying the stats, and talking points in the narration.  

“This LLM has over 217,00 rigorously defined parameters,” the narrator continues, referring to words and phrases defined in the new edition. “It never hallucinates. It does not require a data center and uses no electricity. It is a powerful tool that will change how you communicate, forever.”  

As an image of the 12th edition appears on the screen, a second narrator voices the tagline, “There’s artificial intelligence and there’s actual intelligence.”  

Other spots talk about a “blockbuster new book dropping this fall,” and “the next best seller” that “has everything.” Or at least every word and phrase you can think of, which the narrators begin to cite until their voices fade to silence along with the ad in about 30 seconds.   

“We wanted to keep that playful brand spirit while underscoring the importance and value of words and language,” said Nail Creative Partner Alec Beckett, “And with A.I. dominating the conversation, we thought it was only right to point out that none of these LLMs would exist without the contents of the original Large Language Model—the dictionary.” 

Released organically before launching with paid media, the campaign has already generated 21+million views on X (Twitter) and 2 million views on TikTok, according to the agency.