Google Reveals Their "Pride"
It’s Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. But you wouldn’t know it with a first glance at Google. Because unlike just about every other occasion from the birthday of Harry Houdini to the anniversary of Pac-Man, we always get a Google Doodle — what they call the stylized Google logos they run to commemorate events. But for Gay Pride, the “pride” is hidden. In fact you only get to see the special commemorative rainbow if you search a GLBT term in the search bar.
But is this so bad?
Now hear me out on this one, because it’s a long story.
I, like a lot of you probably, got my back up when I saw the link to the CNN story, Critics: Google Hides Gay Pride Feature. And I, like probably many of you, read the article (or a similar one) with varying degrees of either irritation, sadness or smugness, depending on your leanings.
But then, I, like probably many of you, went to Google to see the hidden rainbow pop up around the search bar. I first wracked my brain. Not being Gay, I was at first at a loss as to what term I should search. But then I settled on “Gay Pride.” Not terribly original, I must admit, but then I’m a novice at such things. I entered the text, pressed the “search” button and there it was! A rainbow.
But you know what else was there? Information.
Lots of information. There was a picture of the Gay Pride Parade. There was a Wikipedia article. There was organizational information. And I realized that this may have been the first time I had EVER searched a GLBT query.
Suddenly my whole outlook changed. I can’t say for sure what Google intended. Maybe it was a back room deal not to piss off certain segments of the population. Maybe it was them bowing to economic pressure. But this tactic had accomplished what no doodle had ever done for me before: It got me to search. And more specifically, it got me to search information on the subject that was being celebrated.
If this was intended, it’s a case study for the PR record books. But even if it wasn’t, how wonderfully refreshing is it to walk away from push communication — the pounding over the head with an idea that most advertising uses — and walk into a brilliant example of earned media, where the story is intriguing enough to evolve in the hands of the audience?
It’s easy to knock Google for not providing a visible display of pride. But really, what is Gay Pride all about? In my opinion it’s about information and understanding. So which would your prefer: Another doodle or an informed population?
Robert Knorpp is host of The BeanCast Marketing Podcast at thebeancast.com and is President of The Cool Beans Group, a marketing strategy consultancy based in New York City. He likes laughing even more than breathing. You can follow the madness on Twitter at twitter.com/BobKnorpp.
