New, Old Logo?
Starbucks is going a little retro for the next few weeks by unveiling its new, old logo. Confused?
It’s no secret that the coffee giant has been struggling recently, and most of the nation was interested to see what Howard Schultz (who took back the title of CEO in January) would do to reverse the direction of things. He’s been talking a lot about focusing back on the customer, becoming an intimate coffee shop again and reaching back to their roots. I think most of us expected better employee training so we could finally get rid of the rude baristas, or perhaps coffee grinders in the store rather than using pre-ground beans.
Something nobody expected, however, was the reestablishment of their old logo along with their newest coffee bean, the Pike Place Roast. (FYI –
The new/old logo takes us back to the pre-censored days of Starbucks before they became a public company and had to worry about offending people. It displays a topless mermaid holding her double-fins, which upon further research proves to be just as risqué as it seems. (Look up the history of sirens and especially Melusines.)
So it this what it will take to bring Starbucks a good reputation again? I wonder if the logo will succeed in its mission of bringing back the nostalgic happy feelings of small town coffee shops with an emphasis on service and intimate settings. Or it could just offend people who don’t like the boring brown, graphic image of a nude mermaid on their cup.
What do you think will happen? I guess we’ll find out.
April 16th, 2008
This is an interesting article. I didn’t know Starbucks was even struggling. I like this logo a lot though.
Amanda <3
April 23rd, 2008
Where is this “Look up the history of sirens and especially Melusines.”
I’m interested in knowing more, but I couldn’t seem to find anything.
May 2nd, 2008
I think logo is really sensational.It will attract lot of attention and maybe controversy.But then its said any publicity even adverse one can often create successful promotions.
May 4th, 2008
Starbucks is too overcrowded and overpriced with too much competition.
It will take more than an old/new logo to bring the company and its stock back to its former high.
November 11th, 2008
I know I’m jumping in a little late on this post, but…
This is a terrible idea.
The green Starbucks logo is so powerful and pervasive that it literally stands for fancy coffee itself. Traveling in Asia last year I noticed a ton of shops advertising espresso that were stealing elements of the Green Queen logo to attract bean-heads. Most of them were the same green color, most of them were circular, etc.
When your brand (and logo) come to represent the product itself, you’ve nailed it. Starbucks shouldn’t mess with that. They should spend their money elsewhere.