Happy Valentines Day!

If you visit Google's homepage you'll see cute little flash illustration of a boy holding a valentine. Click on the "Play" symbol and the video below will play:



I Google for their creativity and attention to detail. This is something silly and sweet that probably has very little measurable ROI (Return on Investment). But it brings an element of delight to my googling experience. Things like this say, "Hey we don't care if this makes us money, we just want to make you smile."

Now, I'm sure that Google does care about making money, but they understand that little extras like this are one of the many things that keep them a cut above the competition. It makes it seem like they really like their customers. It's their version of free coffee in the waiting room or complimentary hot towels.

An interesting side note here, especially for Washingtonians, is the inclusion of a same-sex couple at the end of the animation...as well as a few cross-species couples. I'm assuming Google isn't putting gay relationships in the same category.