Do people hate a company because of its logo?

Lest I get sued for implying Wonder bread is the official choice of the Nazi party while they Google facts about Enron, I’m not. During my NPR Market Watch interview segment about the Consumerist Worst Company debate, (airing this Monday, time TBD), an interesting question came up from reporter Ian Chillag which I hope makes it in:

Do people hate a company because of its logo?

After thinking of 22 responses in 3,000 words, I basically said no. My answer now is the one I wish I had given then: Don’t kill the messenger. The negative or positive feeling you have for a company or a brand is influenced by the quality of its product, and how it conducts business. Nothing more – nothing less.

A great logo won’t help a company that people despise. (Great pr might, but that’s another topic.) And likewise, a symbol that’s been around minding its own business can have negative associations attributed to it after the fact. The obvious example is the symbol of the swastika originally found in Hindu culture, later adopted by Native Americans and later, the Nazi party.

The high-profile logos above were chosen to represent various industries, from consumer products to a political movement. Some bad, some good. Again, as with any logo, how you react to it is based on how you feel about the brand. You can even test the theory without a logo if you prefer:

Coke. Halliburton. Sprint. Wal-Mart.

You probably reacted the same way, simply based on the emotion and experiences you have invested with those names. In all cases, your reactions transcend the vessel chosen to manifest the particular corporate image. In other words:

Don’t kill the messenger.

Tags: Enron, Google, logos, pr, swastika


The "Google" logo is a trademark of Google. The Wonder logo is a registered trademark of Interstate Bakeries Corporation.