Celebrity Death Match: Stem vs. L

OK, look at the above logo, which was featured on the Google home page on Valentine's Day.

Notice something missing? I did. The "L."

Or WAS it missing? I was so ecstatic about finding this apparent error (believe me, this is normal behavior among people who make their living with words) that I called over one of my reporters.

His reaction: "Hahaha, it says 'Googe!'"

We debated for a while why Google would make such a mistake. "Perhaps the stem of the strawberry is supposed to be the L?" we mused. "No, c'mon, that's such a stretch. The stem is all the way up there, and the rest of the word is all the way down here. Plus it's so disproportional compared to the other letters."

I called for a second opinion, my friend who's a reporter at a recently acquired sister paper.

Her reaction: "Hahaha, it says 'Googe!'" She was beside herself. I made the decision to contact Google about this seeming blunder.

Yeah, well, you'd almost have better luck reaching Santa Claus than anyone at Google. First of all, the number listed on their contact page doesn't work. So then I had to Google Google (does that make sense) just to find another contact number. I came up with a handful of press contacts, none of whom I was able to reach.

Finally, and I don't even remember how, I found a number that worked. Except I then had to sit through a 5-minute automated menu because, as the robotic Google voice told me, a live person does not staff the number. "Screw this," I said, and pressed 0. That usually works, right?

Yup, it did (gasp!), I got a live operator. She asked how she could direct my call.

Me: "Um, I'm not sure...your logo today is missing the L."

Operator: "The stem represents the L."

Me: "Oh really. I guess you've had a lot of calls about this already today?"

Operator: "Yes we have. Thank you."

I say...BS! There is no way that stem is supposed to represent the letter L. I think Google just overlooked the error, and then tried to save face when called out on it.

Now, check out this posting on the official Google blog. "True romance and poetry in their soul"? Pshaw. That's a bunch of crap. The fact is, the damn thing says Googe!