Walmart announced on Monday that it had unveiled a new logo, part of “a comprehensive brand refresh.”
The U.S.-based retailer boasted in a news release that the new look — its first change since 2008 — reflects its evolution. In its online “brand center,” Walmart applauded its colour palette (true blue and spark yellow), font (“everyday sans”) and trademark “spark” symbol, calling the latter “a beacon that guides customers.”
But some people online have noticed something else about the new logo.
“It looks the same,” wrote someone on X, one of many people with similar sentiments.
“I can’t believe someone got paid for this,” posted another person.
“A complete overhaul has long been overdue, and while some may be uncomfortable with this radical change, it was time,” joked someone else.
Walmart is the world’s largest retailer, employing some 1.6 million people in the U.S. and approximately 100,000 people in Canada.
Its founder, Sam Walton, opened the first store in 1962 in Rogers, Ark., and launched its first logo at the same time: the word WALMART in straight blue writing, according to the Walmart Museum.
According to Business Insider, Walmart has rolled out seven different logos prior to the newest one. This includes shifting the text from WALMART to WAL-MART to WAL*MART to, finally, Walmart, as we know it now: one word, lower case, no hyphen or star.
In 2008, the company added the yellow “spark,” which represents “the spark of inspiration” that led Walton to create the first store, according to the Walmart Museum.
In its announcement, Walmart said the updated wordmark is “inspired by Sam Walton’s classic trucker hat.”
The update “demonstrates our evolving capabilities and longstanding commitment to serve our customers of today and tomorrow,” said William White, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer for Walmart U.S. in Monday’s news release.
‘Meaningful differences’
Not all reactions to the not-so-new logo were negative. Some design and marketing websites, for instance, called it a welcome “glow-up” while noting it wouldn’t make sense for Walmart to drastically change its recognizable logo.
“The logo itself is an example of simplicity done exquisitely,” writes the editor of design website Creative Bloq.
“While parts of the internet are bemused over the ‘subtle’ changes, as a huge brand Walmart had no reason to change its logo completely — and the design team have done a standout job in accentuating the best parts of the existing design to achieve the brand’s aims.”
The changes may be hard for the “unobservant eye to spot,” writes the Fast Company website, while explaining that the word Walmart has been redrawn, the spark is separated from the text and the blue is brighter.
“You may say it’s subtle, but there are meaningful differences,” White is quoted as saying in the Fast Company article.
And as Forbes notes, Walmart “didn’t become worth over $735 billion by throwing money away.” There was likely a professional team behind the update, even if the changes appear minor.
“From continuity to staying on top of current trends, there will be very good reasons behind the seemingly minor change in Walmart’s new logo.”
Still, that hasn’t stopped people online from having a bit of fun.
“Is this a joke?” posted someone on X.
“A lot of people are hating on the Walmart logo redesign, but if you’ve ever been a third grade girl, you can tell that the new logo is completely different — the old one is a sun, and the new one is a flower,” posted X user Kelley K.
CBC Sports’ Brittany MacLean and Shireen Ahmed rank their favourite logos from the Northern Super League.