Starbucks unveils new logo
Starbucks' logo has undergone several modifications over the years.
January 5th, 2011
03:38 PM ET

Starbucks unveils new logo

Starbucks' signature siren is getting an updated look to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the global coffee chain.

The stripped-down logo features the siren alone, without the "Starbucks Coffee" encircling her image, an homage to the ubiquitous chain's modest beginnings in the Seattle's Pike Place Market in Washington state,  Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said.

"Throughout the last four decades, the siren has been there through it all. And now, we’ve given her a small but meaningful update to ensure that the Starbucks brand continues to embrace our heritage in ways that are true to our core values and that also ensure we remain relevant and poised for future growth," Schultz said in a post on Starbucks' website.

The new logo will start rolling out in the Spring, Schultz said.

Who is the siren, anyway? In the search for an image that captured "the seafaring history of coffee and Seattle’s strong seaport roots," Starbucks' founders came across a 16th century Norse woodcut of a twin-tailed mermaid.

"There was something about her - a seductive mystery mixed with a nautical theme that was exactly what the founders were looking for. A logo was designed around her, and our long relationship with the Siren began," Starbucks says on its website.

More on reaction to Starbucks' new logo
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Filed under: Business
soundoff (107 Responses)
  1. yeah

    didnt you know its coffee for the stars.

    January 6, 2011 at 12:42 am | Report abuse |
  2. Just sayin'

    Couldn't help but notice the Macy's star on top of the Mermaid – at least that's how it suddenly looks now – never noticed that before. Perhaps Macy's will be pleased 🙂

    January 6, 2011 at 12:51 am | Report abuse |
  3. Steve Chang

    Until today, I honestly couldn't have told you what was in the middle of the Starbucks logo. The new logo looks like one of those puzzles where they show you only a bit of something familiar and dare you to identify it. I would have gotten this one wrong. Believing that "mermaid:Starbucks :: swoosh:Nike" is a forlorn hope.

    January 6, 2011 at 1:19 am | Report abuse |
  4. tulalip

    Tully's is so much better.

    January 6, 2011 at 2:15 am | Report abuse |
  5. NOLA Saints

    Community Coffee with chicory is the BEST!!!

    January 6, 2011 at 4:56 am | Report abuse |
  6. WestmontWriter

    Couldn't care less what the logo looks like. Their coffee is overcooked. Burnt. Also way overpriced. Give me Dunkin Donuts any day. Plus Wawa is now running a coffee special, $1 a cup, any size. 🙂

    January 6, 2011 at 8:01 am | Report abuse |
  7. Chaigirl

    Not at all substantial! Without the ring around it, the green siren will leak out of there. A sense of leakage is not good for a coffee cup.

    January 6, 2011 at 10:50 am | Report abuse |
  8. myles

    The new logo:great !
    CNN report the mermaid symbol, used by Starbucks to be taken from Greek mythology- could be.
    Starbucks state, it is taken from 16th C. Norse myth.
    Alternately, the symbol of the mermaid, used incidentally by many seaside cities, including Seattle, could be Melusine, the famed mermaid of lore.
    Melusine, the daughter of Queen Prissina ( a fae queen ) and of the King of Albany, was in the forest one day with her sisters, where she met the Count of Lusignan, a French nobleman. They wed, had a family and eventually Melusine left her husband. Story goes that on a Saturday, while Melusine was bathing, the Count spied on his wife, finding her in full mermaid form. He had promised not to do this ,so she left him.
    Before her departure ,she built many castles, all over France, at lightning speed.
    Her descendants, are found worldwide, today, as collateral members of the Lusignan familly.

    January 6, 2011 at 12:19 pm | Report abuse |
  9. DmitryD

    We are running a test to see which Starbucks logo (old or new one) people prefer. If you feel like you have an opinion please let us know. We'll publish the results very soon! Here is the test: http://zurb.us/eq80Sz

    January 6, 2011 at 5:02 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Dlittle

    Does anyone think if they didn't announce this change anyone would even notice?? Probably not.

    January 6, 2011 at 10:37 pm | Report abuse |
  11. MASS4CHANGE

    The NEW WORLD ORDER believes they are so powerful they can change these logos completely into their symbols.

    January 7, 2011 at 11:01 am | Report abuse |
  12. Rachel

    This was a bad idea!! I much prefer the logo WITH the writing-I don't understand why companies feel the need to be edgy and update their logos to be more basic and simple.

    January 8, 2011 at 10:16 am | Report abuse |
  13. DesignContest

    At DesignContest.com we decided to see if we can come up with a better logo. There are pretty cool entries already. The contest will run for another 12 days. Have a look

    January 14, 2011 at 6:56 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Christopher Dycha

    Proof that we are such a tranparent society. Charisma over character, perception over performance and packaging over product. Christopher Dycha

    January 29, 2011 at 8:26 am | Report abuse |
  15. Dmitrious Popadopomopolomegadopolous

    How about a mermaid drinking a cup of starbux coffee?

    February 6, 2011 at 12:24 am | Report abuse |
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