Melt your cold cold heart.

February 14, 2012 12:19 PM

Today's Google doodle is quite cute.

Happy St. Valentine's Day, MeFites!

posted by CrazyLemonade (49 comments total)

The story of its creation, as told by the artist.
posted by BurntHombre at 12:24 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

(I'll update the URL to the archive version of the Valentine doodle whenever Google saves it in their archive)
posted by mathowie at 12:25 PM on February 14 [4 favorites]

Adorable!
posted by ColdChef at 12:26 PM on February 14

I liked the subtle marriage equality piece at the end.
posted by blahblahblah at 12:27 PM on February 14 [29 favorites]

Hey, www.google.com, neat.
posted by Justinian at 12:27 PM on February 14 [3 favorites]

(I'll update the URL to the archive version of the Valentine doodle whenever Google saves it in their archive)

Had it up to HERE with this heavy-handed moderation!
posted by yerfatma at 12:27 PM on February 14 [8 favorites]

I liked the subtle marriage equality piece at the end.

Subtle?
And I loved it.
posted by inigo2 at 12:31 PM on February 14 [6 favorites]

It took him over 15 searches to find the correct result! What kind of message is that?
posted by Vhanudux at 12:33 PM on February 14 [14 favorites]

The video split in half and played side by side. Was it supposed to do that?
posted by Malice at 12:34 PM on February 14

Video on YouTube

Google's Valentine's Day Doodle is All Heart -- and Some Politics (PCWorld)

Vhanudux: It took him over 15 searches to find the correct result! What kind of message is that?

From the PCWorld article:

It's humbling for Google to confess that even with its super powerful search engine capable of finding any and all gifts, such things can't solve all our problems, especially when it comes to human emotions.

posted by filthy light thief at 12:35 PM on February 14 [2 favorites]

This is fantastic all around, from the message at the end to the backstory about the artist. Thanks!
posted by blucevalo at 12:39 PM on February 14

I think I'm in one of those moods. the collage at the end actually made me tear up, bottom center specifically. unexpected equality win. ♥
posted by changeling at 12:39 PM on February 14 [2 favorites]

After a whirlwind of pre-production calls, on-campus meetings, and massive file transfers, I found myself working on Google's first ever long-form animation

!
posted by roll truck roll at 12:41 PM on February 14 [2 favorites]

I liked the subtle marriage equality piece at the end.

The world has changed enough so that when those two little guys popped up, my first thought was "Marriage." and not "Gay marriage."
posted by ColdChef at 12:42 PM on February 14 [13 favorites]

I don't know if this is what marriage equality really needs right now. The video also seems to support princess/frog relationships, astronaut/space alien couples, and cats and dogs living together.
posted by Nomyte at 12:43 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

I'm ordering a dozen jump ropes on Amazon as we speak. Space romance with mutant squid - sweet.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:44 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

Ketchup Loves Potatoes
posted by not_on_display at 12:45 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

Yay for love!
posted by tr33hggr at 12:47 PM on February 14

Nomyte: ... cats and dogs living together.

... mass hysteria?
posted by filthy light thief at 12:47 PM on February 14 [15 favorites]

It took him over 15 searches to find the correct result! What kind of message is that?

And in the end all it took was a little rope...
posted by cjorgensen at 12:48 PM on February 14

Why did xtc's Harvest Festival have to come up right after this and make me almost cry?

I said almost.
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:49 PM on February 14

The world has changed enough so that when those two little guys popped up, my first thought was "Marriage." and not "Gay marriage."

That was my response too. I didn't even notice it until it was pointed out here. But then I worried that saying that would sound annoyingly braggy or something.

Here's the funny thing, though. The punchline is the sillier pairings (astronaut and alien, milk and cookie). The gay wedding is the straight man.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:50 PM on February 14 [3 favorites]

The takeaway I got here was that the doodles are actually contracted outside of the company. I've derided them for years because I thought they were the product of hiring too many graphic designers for a company that doesn't need more than 1.

Also it was cute
posted by MangyCarface at 12:51 PM on February 14

It was really cute and I loved the dinosaur sweater! I'm about to start skipping outside my apartment right now...
posted by bquarters at 12:53 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

He got algorithm
He got music
He got his guy/gal
Who could ask for anything more?
posted by argonauta at 1:05 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

pffft. Still perpetuating men-must-be-taller ridiculousness. A pox on you Google. A POX.
posted by Stynxno at 1:06 PM on February 14 [2 favorites]

I liked the subtle marriage equality piece at the end.

Yeah. When it first loaded I mistook the backpack for a ponytail and I was all "Yay!" then I noticed I was wrong, and was "Eh." then the same-sex couples photos, back to "Yay!"
posted by odinsdream at 1:08 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

Hey, www.google.com, neat.

Flagged as duplicate. I can see this website has been posted before.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 1:22 PM on February 14 [2 favorites]

D'awwwww. That was lovely.
posted by ZsigE at 1:29 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

You know who's cool? Tony Bennett, that's who!
posted by trip and a half at 1:50 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]

I'm quite upset about the idea of cats and dogs living together. Google is going to regret alienating the house-pet separatist audience.
posted by flyinghamster at 2:01 PM on February 14

It took him over 15 searches to find the correct result! What kind of message is that?

I got the impression that he finally gave up on searching, after none of the results worked, and just decided to jump rope on his own.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:01 PM on February 14

It took him over 15 searches to find the correct result! What kind of message is that?

You can't always find the information to make you happy on the internet.
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 2:05 PM on February 14

He should have posted an AskMe.
posted by modernserf at 2:10 PM on February 14 [3 favorites]

"Melt your cold cold heart."

The post title is a lie! The doodle isn't viewable in Iceland at all!

Unless you go to google.co.uk or .fr or .ca.
posted by Kattullus at 2:16 PM on February 14

He should have posted an AskMe.

You should dump that jump-roping girl, she's just not into you and you're starting to seem like a stalker.
posted by inigo2 at 2:24 PM on February 14

And as I hit post, I realized I really meant:
You should stop hassling that jump-roping girl, she's just not into you and you're starting to seem like a stalker.
posted by inigo2 at 2:25 PM on February 14

That explanation article claims this is the "first ever long-form animation" doodle but that doesn't seem correct to me! Offhand I can't remember too many examples but this Freddie Mercury one is pretty long.
posted by SharkParty at 2:25 PM on February 14

Hello Jason
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:46 PM on February 14

Melt your cold cold heart.
I thought we were going to cool his hot heart with a warm island song...
posted by Betty_effn_White at 2:59 PM on February 14

"It took him over 15 searches to find the correct result! What kind of message is that?"

Right, because when one gets rejected all you need to win her heart is a better search term, and if at first you don't succeed? Try try again. Why is it that, particularly at this time of year, our romantic narratives have to have this weirdly aggressive and one-sided vibe to them?

There is an appropriate and considerate response to non-reciprocation and it is not I MUST TRY HARDER.

I did also love the two handsome gentleman at the end, that was nice.
posted by Blasdelb at 3:40 PM on February 14 [2 favorites]

There is an appropriate and considerate response to non-reciprocation and it is not I MUST TRY HARDER.

I did like that the ultimate successful solution was figure out what she's into rather than relying on stereotypes.
posted by restless_nomad at 3:49 PM on February 14 [10 favorites]

i thought it was awesome that she didn't care about anything he bought her.

when he decided to spend time with her instead, that's what made her happy.

i have an ex who just never really got that part of the equation.
posted by sio42 at 4:58 PM on February 14 [6 favorites]

Whipped, right off the bat. Dude's in for a world of pain and is clearly lacking a strong male influence in his life.
posted by raider at 5:16 PM on February 14

Ha. When I saw it, I thought it was some guy holding the "play button" seen on Youtube and other video sites.
posted by Metro Gnome at 6:50 PM on February 14

Is it supposed to be animated? Because the Googles, they do nothing!
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:17 PM on February 14

Is it supposed to be animated? Because the Googles, they do nothing!

If you're blocking Flash in some way, it may think you don't have it at all and skip the animation.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:21 PM on February 14

I don't get the same Google as people in the USA, so I accessed their archive here. It looks like the word "Google" with a girl/boy standing in front of it, holding a red card with a white heart on it. It doesn't animate for me even with Flash turned on. Is this what you see?
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:39 PM on February 14

It's off the Google page, now (not Valentine's Day anymore), so it's probably easiest to just go to the version on Youtube.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:49 PM on February 14 [1 favorite]