Google Unveils New Doodle For The Rio Olympics

After months of waiting, Friday, Aug. 5 is finally upon us, which means it's finally time to kick off the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The opening ceremony will be going down on Friday evening, and it'll be a high-profile affair, attended by hundreds upon hundreds of athletes and heads of state. And make no mistake, few international events are as big as the Olympics, which is probably why companies like to get in on the act. For example, check out the new Rio Olympics Google doodle.

To be clear, although the timing and content of the doodle make it clear that it's a bit of fun heading into the Rio summer games, the word "Olympics" doesn't appear anywhere. It's possible that this is due to the International Olympic Committee's strident rules governing use of its terms and images by companies that aren't official Olympic sponsors, or it could merely be that Google doesn't need to be quite so literal to have a little fun.

Here's the basic idea: Watch these adorable little animated fruits compete to see who's the freshest. Simple, right? Unlike some Google doodles that live up to their name, this one isn't strictly an illustration ― it's a video. It also has the benefit of being sharply produced, and kind of cute, too. Check it out:

Friday's version is just "Day 1" of the action, so you should expect more Fruit Games doodles to be rolling out throughout the duration of the Rio Olympics, according to the official Google Doodle website. So if like watching fruits compete as much as I do, you'll want to keep an eye out in the weeks to come.

Google clearly went to the extreme to make this a fun, notable doodle, too, because it doesn't even stop at the videos. There are also smartphone games you can play. You'll have to download the Google search app to do it. Just click on the app on your Android or iOS device, then click on the doodle, and you'll be able to play a number of fun, simple games based on the fruit athletes.

As the doodles go, this one has a dramatically widespread reach, too, and that makes sense given the international flair of the Olympic games. Doodles are often restricted to one country or region, or custom-designed for local or national occasions. The doodle celebrating Azerbaijan Independence Day, for example, is not going to be running in Iceland. But in this case, you can see the Fruit Games doodle virtually anywhere. It's a fun and creative way to celebrate the Rio games, all without, you know, specifically mentioning them.