GOD AWFUL.

I love that Google can create some much content spinning off their logo. It is so on brand to be able to collaborate with things that are outside of their environment. These Canadian ones are a little easy and hooky, but the audience for the Google service/content is so broad that it makes rational sense to be unoffensive and middle of the road. Design statements are not part of the Doodle vocabulary, it seems that Google aims for the mass, not the narrow. My only complaint is that they are not a little more savvy (I want to see Canada presented as something beyond beavers and moose). The later examples (2010 and 2006) feel way stronger and proud.

The only one that feels close to reflecting a genuine brand Canada is the current one from this year. The others feel outdated and touristy, created from outside not inside the Canadian mindset.