There is plenty of other Android news we could be talking about this week. I was initially going to write about Allo on the desktop, and how it's effectively changed the way I communicate with my friends. But it hasn't changed anything; my parents are stuck on using WhatsApp, everyone else is an iPhone-using iMessage-lover, and I'm still the Green Bubble in their lives.
Did you know that Android Oreo's superhero mascot is a woman?
And then I got a message from my All About Android co-host, Jason Howell, on Allo. Did you know that Android Oreo's new superhero mascot is actually a woman? I had no idea — I didn't see the Oreo halo surrounding her face as a head of hair. I thought it was a shield! Look at the way the artists depict her arms and legs, too; she's kind of wearing Sailor Scout gear, a la Sailor Moon, and the Sailor Senshi.
None of the Android Oreo announcements I'd read made any mention of her gender. She's officially female, though, and an article on AdAge goes as far as to suggest that the gender is a significant part of the mascot's message:
Coming hand-in-hand with the Android Oreo release is a female superhero (think: green Android mascot with a belly made from an Oreo), which the brands say is meant to mix the "playfulness" of Oreo and the "intelligence" of Android.
When AdAge refers to "the brands," it means Google and Oreo. Both companies have incredible brand power behind them, so it's natural that they'd be doing the press circuit around marketing trade publications in an effort to drum up further interest in Oreo cookies and Android Oreo. It's the same strategy Google implemented for Android 4.4 KitKat.
I hope to know more about her story in the coming weeks.
I think it's neat that Google's new mascot is a lady, and I hope to know more about her story in the coming weeks. How did she become a superhero? What led her to become Android's protective agent? And what kind of power does Oreo hair actually give you? Google's already been heavily pushing the concern-for-safety narrative over the past three years, so I refuse to believe that she's merely a symbol of the Android's team's devotion to security.
Anyway, I leave you with this one little tidbit from the AdAge article, which gives me some hope for the marketing that will come out of this seemingly unorthodox partnership:
Oreo is spending on plans to support the partnership over the next several months. One activation being discussed is mounting a drone with nine hologram projectors to make it seem like the Android Oreo superhero is flying in the air.
It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Android's Oreo-powered Super Woman!
