BNL Feature- Starbucks Logo Becomes Wordless

First Gap (Clothing brand) created a buzz when it tried (but failed) to introduce a new logo, now Starbucks? The Seattle-based coffee corporation has modified its siren-centered logo, leaving the iconic sea creature to do all the talking! Your coffee cups and coffee collars from the world’s largest coffee company will be wordless.

Starbucks unveiled a new logo at its Seattle headquarters, dropping the text and focusing on the (now green) siren, the Associated Press reports. “What is really important here is an evolutionary refinement of the logo, which is a mirror image of the strategy,” Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, said at the unveiling. “This is not just, let’s wake up one day and change our logo.”

The facelift marks a new direction company, as it rebounds from a tough economic period. The current revamp is the fourth version of the Starbucks’ logo since the company was founded in Seattle in 1971. The first modification was in 1987, changing the original brown logo to a green and black color palette.

So when will the logo change be implemented? March, in celebration of the company’s 40th anniversary! The announcement already received more than 100 reader responses on Starbucks’ website. A quick scan of the reactions showed consumers were mixed about the refurbished logo, with many people unpleasantly surprised by the changes.

“Who’s the bonehead in your marketing department that removed the world-famous name of Starbucks Coffee from your new logo? This gold card user isn’t impressed,” wrote MimiKatz.

“I prefer the old logo,” another wrote. “I’ve been a Starbucks fan since I lived in Portland in the late 80’s and I’ve been in Mississippi for the past 11 years enjoying Starbucks. I’m all for change…I think it’s great, but I’m not impressed with the new logo.”

And gerberfranz wrote: “I am in agreement with MimiKatz. Removing the Starbucks name off your logo does not make any sense. I have been a big supporter of Starbucks since the early days, taken expensive rides in taxis to get my morning coffee, even waded through two feet of snow in my business suit. I do not see the logic of your business development folks. Free advertisement on every cup, every day. Think about it.”

But a few people supported the move.

“Wow… What a beautiful and compelling way to move the company into the new millennium. I always thought that the harsh black band around the siren represented the shackles of history past,” wrote cjsvendsen.

Starbucks’ logo change is reminiscent of a similar move made last year by No. 1 clothing chain Gap Inc.

As mentioned at the beginning, early October 2010, Gap shocked its fans by changing its iconic blue-box logo encasing the word “GAP,” to a small box placed above the word Gap. The move created fan fury that Gap reverted back to its old logo a week later.

It remains to be seen if its latest logo facelift causes uproar and how Starbucks deals with the aftermath.

What do you think of the new logo?

I for one think that it’s a good move, with words or no words the logo is synonymous to Starbucks. I wouldn’t mistake it for anything else.