There is very little you can say to defend this leaked (I hope) report on Pepsi’s new logo (big pdf). Go and read it if you have not already – it will affect you in some way. I felt ill.
A few snippets to show just how far removed Pepsi’s branding people are away from the quality of the product:
Apparently Pepsi’s DNA was conventional is is now innovative. Or something. But the product is still high fructose corn syrup (USA) or sugar (elsewhere) and water. Indeed I feel that Pepsi and Coke lost all hope of product quality (in the sense of “good for you”) years ago.
If you ever see this sort of prose from one of your marketers or an external consultant then show then the door, and quickly. “We think it looks good, it tests well and we can animate the smiley face” would have sufficed.
Apparently Pepsi cans are very heavy. Very very heavy.
The best response from the web has been this cartoon from blowatlife. I won’t be able to look at the new logo without seeing this now.
Lance Wiggs 
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much effort and thought gone into so much bullshit. My personal favourite was the shopping ailse/light path comparison and the gravitational pull of Pepsi.
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That’s just crazy – I don’t mind the new logo, but the 27 page document is only there so that Pepsi feel like they are getting their money’s worth (I assume this would have cost them plenty…)
Other logos worth discussing are the London 2012 Olympics logo, and the new BNZ toothpaste logo.
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You want to charge $250k for a logo, it has to come with bullshit.
It does, however, remind me of the infamous “Happy Eater” logo: A face with a finger stuck pretty much down it’s throat going “bleeuuugghh”.
stuartm: Agreed, the London logo is truly appalling.
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I’m American. Quite frankly, the first time I saw it, it immediately made me think they were piggy backing on Barack Obama’s logo which is widely popular and absolutely everywhere in the US.
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..something asymmetrical circumscribed by something symmetrical, in three peices, in primary red white and blue, basically…
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just saw this: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/yes-we-can-try.html
for fun, asked 4 Americans following question and these were their replies.
Me: “Have you seen Pepsi’s latest logo?”
Them:
#1: “No. Why?”
#2: “Noooo. Which one you talking about—I’ve seen their new Mountain Dew logo–I like that one.”
#3: No. Why–does it look like Obama’s?”
#4: “Uh huh, it’s totally Obama’s logo.”
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Whenever you encounter marketing-speak as in the above sample, make sure to give it a run here http://www.cynicalbastards.com/wankometer/
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