Friends 25th anniversary marked by Google with easter eggs on search engine

Google “Phoebe Buffay” today and you will hear the dulcet tones of Lisa Kudrow’s iconic Friends character singing her famous song ‘Smelly Cat’, in one of a number of interactive easter eggs Google has introduced to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary.

Searching the names of any of the show’s six main characters will allow you to click on a special illustration to the right of the search page that plays a character-specific sound effect or animation.

Ross Geller’s declaration of “Pivot!” produces a special page effect after searching his name, while a search for “Rachel Green” will take you to an appreciation of her famous haircut.

Googling “Chandler Bing” leads to an animation featuring a pair of memorable Friends supporting players, and “Monica Geller” and “Joey Tribbiani” will both lead to animated celebrations of their individual quirks.

Google is the latest company to get involved in celebrating the sitcom’s 25th birthday, with Ralph Lauren unveiling a capsule collection inspired by their fictional employee Rachel, Lego releasing a special Friends-themed set and Pottery Barn releasing a Friends-themed furniture collection.

A tell-all book about the series, Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era, also revealed that the show nearly moved from New York to Minnesota in a mid-series plot twist.

The show’s creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, additionally have spoken about the storylines from the series they regret, including a chicken pox-related story involving actor Charlie Sheen.