Walmart has given its logo a facelift the first time in 17 years. But as the 61-year-old US-based chain retailer unveiled its redesigned logo earlier this week, the subtle changes -- almost unnoticeable to anyone not paying close attention -- were trolled on social media with several users speculating how much money was spent on the "touch-up".
Currently, the logo has thicker lettering on “Walmart” and broader petals for the yellow flower-like graphic that goes with it. The new font is inspired by a typeface Walmart used from the 1980s to the early 2000s. The blue in the background is also deeper.
To several social media users, however, it looked the same.
The company did not reveal how much it spent on the facelift, but online users are speculating the bill to run into millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, Walmart's marketing chief William White has said that the idea was not to radically overhaul the logo, but to modernise it. The new logo reflects the company's big push into e-commerce and digital offerings as well as be a more fashionable brand that appeals to the more affluent customers without alienating its longtime customer base, Fortune reported.
“I wouldn’t call this a rebrand, but really a refresh to reflect who we are today,” White told the publication. “The Walmart of today is very different than the Walmart of 2008, the last time we made a change in the brand identity. We are more modern, we are more digital.” He was referring to the time when "Wal-Mart” took off the hyphen from its name and logo. The hyphen had been its trademark since it was launched in 1962.
These subtle changes would stop anyone walking by a Walmart store in their tracks, but would definitely infuse some freshness into the logo, he said. “The changes are meaningful in terms of giving a little bit more life and energy to the spark, making it richer and fuller and giving it more depth,” White told Fortune.
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