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Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" on Google Japan
- jamesgagan 15y agoCool as Freddy was, let's not forget these are ads for google - would he have wanted his image used to shill for a giant corporation?
- chao- 15y agoVersus a small corporation? Or versus his image not being used at all? It is a tribute, with at least some degree of creativity and effort put into making the video. I don't see this being exploited to gain Google any more users than, let's be honest, they would have anyway. Especially since it is on Google Japan, I would anticipate people going to the main page, watching the video, and then not even performing a search. And in instances where that does occur, Google is gaining nothing financially from something which, again, is a creative tribute. I don't really see it as shilling at all.
- jamesgagan 15y agoHow many times does the google logo appear in various forms during the "tribute"? If you don't think google gains anything financially from this, then you don't understand how advertising works.
- mung 15y agoSome how I just can't imagine that a meeting took place "now, how can we capitalise on this"...
- becomevocal 15y agoThey at least had a "how will the Google logo fit in" moment. I do wonder how far ahead they plan these and what the process looks like.
- shabble 15y agoNot hugely informative, but has a bit of a description: http://www.google.com/doodle4google/history.html http://www.google.com/doodle4google/history.html
- yurisagalov 15y agoGiven that Brian May wrote a guest blog post on Google's official blog today (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/happy-birthday-freddie-mercury.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/happy-birthday-freddi...), I think that at least Brian May thinks that Freddie would've been ok with it. Yes, this "advertises" Google, but why can't it also be a celebration of Freddie Mercury's life? I really dislike the idea that every corporate gesture should have a sinister undertone...
- michaelschade 15y agoThe Google Doodles have historically intertwined Google and whatever the day's message was. Just as in pre-interactive Doodle days where they would morph images into the Google name, here they are extending that into their new style of logos. Plus, keep in mind that Google created the video. As a photographer and someone who enjoys art in general, I can tell you that it's not uncommon for artists to incorporate their name (or, in this case, their company's name) into a piece of work. It's a nice way to make the art something with which one can personally connect.
- jamesgagan 15y agoYou are joking right? You think google inserts their logo into this video three or four times so they can "personally connect" with it? It is so when you watch it, you associate google with the "fun" feeling you are getting from watching the video.
- michaelschade 15y agoI never said that was the entire reason, but if I were one of the artists involved (not that I'm any good with video), that would be part of my reason. When I take or edit a photo, although representing myself individually, I incorporate a part of me or my family in it–my name, somewhere, or sometimes even something that alludes to my company. Now, I'm not saying that you are incorrect in what you perceive to be some of their reasoning for this. Of course Google wants to associate the work they do with their brand identity, and this video is indeed advertising. Anything a company does is advertising, to be fair. That said, I don't personally believe that advertising and showing support for something are mutually exclusive. Just as a company is able to get their name out there while also donating to charity, Google is capable of spreading the Google name while also paying tribute to Freddie.
- nl 15y agoI suspect that people visiting Google.co.jp might already be familiar with the Google brand.
- m0nastic 15y agoI don't think Google posting a Google Doodle tribute is akin to shilling (is it shilling when they have doodles for other world figures?). I will agree that there is some commercial benefit to Google for this sort of thing, but even I'm not cynical enough to think that's their rationale for doing this. Freddie Mercury was one of my biggest heroes growing up, and I thought this was really nice (and maybe will cause a whole bunch of young people to ask "Who the hell is Freddie Mercury?").
- Teeooe 15y agoIt's a Google Ad! Are you blind?
- atypicaluser 15y agoI don't think you know Freddy Mercury or Queen all that well. Considering they provided the score for two films (Flash Gordon, Highlander) and allowed their music on scores of commercials (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zr5lZWx9X0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zr5lZWx9X0 ) yeah, he'd/they'd shill.
- jamesgagan 15y agoI know them well enough to know that commerical features Dwight Yoakum's version of the song and it aired many years after Freddy Mercury died.
- atypicaluser 15y agoMy apologies. Would a spot from 1980 suffice? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9KDXJ2AlKQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9KDXJ2AlKQ
- philwelch 15y agoHighlander still had a traditional orchestral score alongside the Queen songs. The Highlander TV series also liberally used some of the songs, most prominently the album recording of the title song "Princes of the Universe" as the theme song, but also variations on "Who Wants To Live Forever" in the score. There's no question Queen was a fully-sold-out pop band at the end. With their talent they could have easily pursued a less commercial path--and in their early albums, had a fair deal of influence from heavy metal and progressive rock--but for whatever reasons, they didn't. Not a criticism, just a fact.
- toyg 15y agoYes he would. Queen was one of the most "commercial" bands ever, constantly rehashing their music to sound like the mainstream-of-the-day and selling out to the highest bidder. They knew that being a pop band is just an act, and what matters is how many records and tickets you sell. Freddie was quite happy to get money to be a showman, and would probably laugh at modern "indie" sensibilities like you wouldn't believe. Hell, they happily sold "We are the Champions" to any sport organization willing to pony up some cash.
- klausa 15y agoFor those that are wondering: today (Sept. 5th) Freddy Mercury would turn 65. It's also absolutely amazing, I recommend you to watch it in it's entirety. (I think it's also no longer Japan only, it was on .pl and .com for me also, but YMMV.)
- patrickaljord 15y agoYou can watch it on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX2BQM0D01M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX2BQM0D01M
- estel 15y agoPresumably it's appearing on various domains as those countries move into the fifth. Edit: blog says that it's appearing in the US on the 6th. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/happy-birthday-freddie-mercury.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/happy-birthday-freddi...
- buster 15y ago.de now too
- qxb 15y ago.co.uk now too.
- thristian 15y agoOn the subject of Japan and Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now", here's another curiousity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTo-wFfIXKo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTo-wFfIXKo Somebody took a copy of Super Mario World for the Super Nintendo and hex-edited the levels so that instead of requiring a human player, the game's built-in physics propels Mario through the level. And, the levels were designed so that the various sound effects caused by Mario stomping on and bumping into things vaguely approximate the music to Don't Stop Me Now. AND four entirely different levels were created, each attempting to reproduce the part of some particular member of Queen. AND they occasionally sync up for the more spectactular parts of the song.
- spiralganglion 15y agoIt never ceases to amaze me what people are doing with these "classic" video games. I have immense hope that the current generation of video games, ten or twenty years on, will have fostered the same degree of love and devotion in their fans, leading to such astounding mods. I can't wait to see how the more advanced physics and rendering technologies in recent games are twisted by the brilliant and insane minds of hackers and digital circuit-benders. There are some good examples already (the GTA4 negative wheel friction hack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0cUkU9rZyE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0cUkU9rZyE) or some of the Mario64 Tool-Asisted-Speedruns come to mind), but we're not yet anywhere near these beautifully orchestrated sublimations of classic Mario, Zelda and Super Metriod.
- philwelch 15y agoI think contemporary videogames are too complicated to do this with. Older, simpler games have a minimalistic beauty all of their own; newer, complex games are more of a spectacle but lose a lot of the simple elegance. It's similar to the difference between the deliberate, minimalistic, kendo-style lightsaber battle in Empire Strikes Back and the hyperactive, flashy lightsaber battles in the Star Wars prequels.
- spiralganglion 15y agoWe already have things like this mod of Half Life: http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns/about/ http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns/about/ But perhaps you're right. There does seem to be a sweet spot in the balance of 16-bit era games, where the technical complexity wasn't so constrained as to force a boring outcome (as with 8-bit and earlier), nor so complex as to require a herculean amount of effort. Time will tell. I would rather err on the side of being hopeful.
- paxswill 15y agoUnrelated, but is anyone else's Google+ name being translated properly? I'm a little surprised at that touch.
- makmanalp 15y agoNope, but I get a "san" at the end of my name.
- w1ntermute 15y agoThey probably only cover the common names.
- rrpp 15y agoThis is HTML5 right?
- bonzoesc 15y agoNo, it uses a proprietary browser plugin.
- magicalist 15y agoto be more specific, it's a youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX2BQM0D01M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX2BQM0D01M
- Teeooe 15y agoYoutube video's are proprietary now?
- riffic 15y agothe plugin to view them is.
- magicalist 15y agoWell, it's possible to play youtube videos in an html5 player, but I wasn't able to induce it to use anything but the flash player.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- schiptsov 15y agoThat is really nice mix of several genres - anime, video games, that new crazy trend to design everything like screenshot from a ZX Spectrum game, and, of course, that vocal and drive. Really nice work of a modern art. ^_^
- ck2 15y agoWow that was really beautiful. Why not on the US site? I hope they write a "making of" somewhere. That's probably the most time I have ever spent on the Google front page, maybe that's a hint to advertisers. At the end it auto-googles him too, isn't that a first too - Google auto-forwarding?
- thefox 15y agoGoogle Japan? Not only Japan. The whole Google servers shows Freddy.
- iamichi 15y agoI saw this just after reading the Teal and Orange post (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2960235 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2960235). The entire Google animation is basically teal and orange.