The 2013 Martin Luther King Day Google Doodle shows how a corporation can honor history without exploiting it. The Doodle, which went live shortly after midnight EST on January 21, incorporates an image of MLK into the Google name, punctuated by a vibrant color scheme of yellow, aqua, purple, black, and white. Clicking on the Doodle takes you to a series of educational articles about one of the most influential men of the 20th Century. The Doodle is a model for other corporations.

We’ve all seen crass examples of businesses taking advantage of history to make a buck — usually in the form of retailer breathlessly offering a sale to honor the memory of someone’s passing with the real motive being to honor the tradition of American capitalism. (These examples show you what I mean, and so do these courtesy of Buzzfeed. The Google Doodle could have just as easily veered into poor taste by reducing an iconic figure to a Continue reading →