A TechCrunch reader informs us that Google Kuwait has replaced its usual logo with a doodle one, as the company often does for special occasions in specific countries or on Google.com.
Google is currently putting the spotlight on Kuwait’s National Day, as evidenced by the file name (kuwaitnatlday10-hp.gif) and where clicking the logo takes you (translation).
The only problem: Kuwait’s National Day isn’t January 25 or 26, but February 25.
Update: the site changed back to normal about 15 minutes after our post went up.
To be more specific, the State of Kuwait celebrates its National Day on February 25, marking the creation of country as a nation in 1961. Kuwait celebrates Liberation Day on February 26, marking the liberation of the country after seven months of Iraqi occupation.
There’s definitely no public holiday going on the 25th or 26th of January, however, so either they’re going to keep this doodle logo and link up for a month in anticipation of Kuwaiti festivities, or someone got the date wrong.
My money’s on the latter.
Update 2: from the Google Arabia blog:
We wanted to use the Kuwaiti Google homepage as a way to commemorate Kuwait’s Independence Day and designed a great Doodle which appeared on the www.google.com.kw homepage today January 26th… but we’re all subject to human error and we made one today by posting the Doodle one month too soon. All we can say is oops! But the design a new logo for the right date on February 25th, which means that Kuwait will be the only country to ever have two Doodles for their national day in the same year!
(Thanks for the tip, Michel)