Brands have been using psychology in marketing since the 1920s. Some companies even go so far as using hypnosis on test groups of consumers as a way to access their deep subconscious, thereby figuring out how to best attract the public to their brand. Whatever is going on behind the scenes of the biggest brands in our modern-day culture, they must be doing something right. Their logos are as recognizable to us as our own names and their bottoms lines show it.
Nike
The Nike swoosh is notorious across the entire planet. It might be surprising then this now multi-billion dollar company’s infamous logo comes from the humblest of origins, bought from a graphic design student for a measly $35 in 1971. Nike co-founder Phil Knight originally hired Carolyn Davidson, a struggling graphic design student at Portland State University, to work for his little company Blue Ribbon Sports in the late 1960s. When it came time to design a new logo for Blue Ribbon Sports to compete with rival brands like Puma and Adidas, Davidson’s only criteria was to design something original that looked like speed. She presented five potential designs, one of which was the Nike swoosh we all know and love today.
Initially, Knight was not in love with the swoosh, but figured it would grow on him. Knight only charged $35 for the logo, which today would be the equivalent of $220. Little did she know that her design would come to be one of the most recognizable symbols on the planet. When Blue Ribbon Sports renamed the company Nike, that swoosh was presented to the commercial world for the first time. In 1983, Davidson was surprise gifted a portion of Nike stock and a gold swoosh ring for her contributions to Nike’s undeniable success.
Apple
The origin of the Apple logo is shrouded in beautiful myths. Legend has it that the ubiquitous Apple logo was designed as a tribute to Alan Turing, an early leader into artificial intelligence research who deciphered German codes during World War II and the man who first planted the technological seeds for the contemporary computer. His work went unrecognized, and in the following decade, he bit into an apple he himself laced with cyanide, and he was gone. Recognizing his Turing’s contributions to the field of computers and technology, Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak used Turing’s bitten apple as their logo. As lovely as this story sounds, it is unfortunately not true.
Another theory conjectures Apple’s logo as a symbol of knowledge that was either taken directly from the Bible or even from the story of how an apple fell on Sir Isaac Newton’s head which led him to figure out the concept of gravity. Those stories are myths as well. The truth is a bit less poetic. The design comes from a man named Rob Janoff, who denies all claims that any of the above theories contributed to the creation of the logo. Steve Jobs couldn’t even remember clearly how the outline of the apple was finally decided upon. He did say with certainty that the apple’s bite is there for clarity, so that no matter the size of the logo, it always looks like an apple and not a cherry. It’s merely a coincidence that computer “bytes” coincide with the bite in the Apple logo.
Starbucks
Terry Heckler’s original sketch for the Starbucks logo was a collaborative effort between himself and Seattle journalist Gordon Bowker, one of Starbucks’ founders. Bowker wanted his artisan coffee to demonstrate a sense of adventure associated with Seattle’s maritime history. Scoping out how to successfully market the coffee led them to Herman Melville’s classic piece of literature, Moby Dick. Mister Starbuck is the first mate to Captain Ahab, the novel’s protagonist. The name Starbucks was used in lieu of some of the other names as a linguistic decision. Both Hecklet and Bowker were concerned with how to create a successful product name, and the “s” sound gave them something they considered most memorable.
Once they had the name, Heckler’s sketch was fashioned after old illustrations of sirens and mermaids. The logo was a mermaid, complete with nipples on her breasts and a forked tail, set upon a brown background. This was in the early 1970s. It wasn’t until 1992 that the logo mellowed out a bit. The brown turned to a bright greenish color. The nipples were covered by the mermaid’s hair. The tail lost its fork and instead wrapped around the mermaid’s body. More recently, in 2011, Starbucks removed its name from the logo altogether, so all that remains is the green mermaid.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s is the largest fast-food chain on the planet, and it isn’t just its hamburgers and fries that make it famous. The McDonald’s logo is one of the most recognized symbols in the world. Today, everyone thinks of the McDonald’s logo as the “Golden Arches,” but those arches are actually the letter “M.” That “M” is also ingeniously round in shape to imitate a pair of breasts, a Freudian symbol that represents our attraction to the primal nourishment that breasts offer. As unbelievable as it may sound, the psychology behind this is about figuring out people’s unconscious desires and using them as a form of manipulation. Clearly, in the case of McDonald’s, it worked.
How much does a brand’s logo impact our desire to buy their product? It’s probably much more than we realize. We’re being manipulated under our very noses. Yet that isn’t going to stop us from patronizing their businesses. In fact, the origin stories behind how each of these brands got their logos may entice us even more.
Jess Lakritz 