A promo for a short animated video focusing on Google‘s new mascot, accidentally created back in June 2024, has been announced. Anime fans will already be familiar with Japan’s mascot culture, which has become a global phenomenon. Even the Catholic Church has gotten in on mascots with an avatar named Luce.
Mascots in tech aren’t anything new, per se. Samsung unveiled “G-NUSMAS” back in 2022, and Android’s “Bugdroid” has become synonymous with the operating system. However, for one reason or another, the industry has largely kept its distance from cutesy mascots. Google is the latest tech player to get in on the mascot game with Koromu, an animated version of the Google Chrome logo.
Google Unveils New Mascot And It’s Better Than It Seems
Google’s New Mascot Koromu Is Promising
As announced by Catsuka on X, Google’s mascot Koromu will be the subject of a new stop-motion short entitledGambare! Koromu, produced by the studio behind Pokemon Concierge and Rilakkuma. Credit where it’s due: the little fella’s pretty cute. Stop-motion fits the character design well, too. Present information about the short seems to indicate that it will focus on the mundanities of tech conveyed as adorably as possible: Chrome’s efforts to fend off viruses, for example. A limited playlist of shorts is available on Google Japan’s YouTube channel, though without English subtitles.
The shorts follow a tweet by Google Japan in June 2024 which had humbler intentions: pointing out subtle gradients in Google Chrome’s logo. Curved lines pointed to each different color, and they just happened to look like arms, legs, and antennae. The replies, from a mostly Japanese audience, latched on quickly. Koromu can be considered an accidental mascot, produced through a viral reaction—ironic, in consideration of Koromu’s antiviral shield.
Google’s Embrace Of Koromu Treads The Line Of Corporate Cynicism
Being A Product Of Accident Raises Questions About Corporate Fanservice
As of the time of writing, the only reply to the announcement bemoans “making corporate overlords cute”. It’s an understandable sentiment. The question is raised whether Koromu represents a cynical corporate cash-in on a viral trend, and where the line can be drawn between satisfying a fanbase with good intentions and covering over malice with a cutesy identity in the public eye.
The majority of Western anime fans are internet-savvy and tech-literate. 2024 has seen Google make decisions that would seem to alienate this fan base, such as attempting to entirely cut off the use of ad-blockers on YouTube for Chrome users. It’s no secret that a major part of anime’s Western growth has been, in part, due to ad-heavy streaming services—some legal, others not—and Google’s anti-ad-blocker policies have been an indirect attack on those users. Being worried that a cutesy mascot like Koromu is intended to cover over such actions is entirely reasonable.
At the same time, Koromu has succeeded only because of the internet’s embrace. There’s surely a pocket of brand loyalists who will be eager to see Gambare! Koromu when it’s available. It’s harder to ascertain what the broader response will be, though, especially with the communities Google has already alienated.
Source: Catsuka/X, Google Japan/X, Google Japan/YouTube