It’s been awhile since we’ve done a Facelift/Faceoff Friday
challenge.
That’s because most companies wouldn’t think about
undergoing a brand transformation amidst the calamity of the holidays. Unless
of course Q4 is one of your least busy seasons and your gearing up for a rush that
inevitably comes with the start of each New Year.
New Year’s Resolutions
are what keep WeightWatchers in business.
And so as the weight loss/monitoring juggernaut prepares to
usher in a new class of self-loathing pound shed hopefuls, they decided to give
their brand a quick tummy tuck.
Personally, I saw nothing wrong with the last one. It was
bright and active, slim and flowing – all the things you’d want your experience
with weight loss to be. It didn’t feel dated or as if it had lost its impact.
The new logo falls victim to the same trend
in brand homogenization we described earlier this year. It ditches much of
what made WeightWatchers stand out, opting for a mega-simple, ultra-reductive treatment
comprised of a single case, single color, and dime-a-dozen font.
Relax. It does a few
things right.
As you move from left to right, the fade from black to gray
to white feels transformative. In
that regard, it conjures up a notion of what the weight loss process should be;
starting in the dark, moving to the light.
It also feels more
masculine (or, at least not feminine),
an arena WeightWatchers has been trying to break into since adding basketball
legend Charles Barkley to their portfolio of celebrity endorsements last year (did he give up the Taco Bell spots or is he
just a post child of confliction?).
But wait. Look again.
What’s that in the center?
A big, gray twat.
Oops. By dropping all casing, the words ‘weight’ + ‘watchers’
become a 14-letter game of word find (and with a second glance, my eyes found a
doozy). True, the word has several meanings. But none of which a woman wants
top of mind as they embark upon their new diet.
How does this not get caught during the creative process?
Has no one at WeightWatchers or the agency of record run into similar issues
when combining the words before?
One thing’s for sure –
if you didn’t notice it before, it’s all you’ll see now.
All is not lost. A simple reversion back to the upper/lower
formula would dilute the impact of stringing all the letters together. It’s a
quick fix, but will it get applied?
 |
| As of 12/7/12 |
The current form is up on the site now – I can’t imagine it will make it into 2013.
Thanks for pointing out the word twat. I will never be able to look at their logo the same again! LOL
ReplyDeleteTrims the fat? I guess by removing that device on the left, but ugh, that new typeface is bloated. I agree with you that the last one was perfectly fine. If all they wanted to do was make it a bit more masculine, they could have done some tweaking with the font or color scheme. But the new design looks lazy, dark and sinister. It seems like the font and gradient would be suited for a video game or TV show about crime and corruption. It just has a dark, dirty feel to it. I understand your analogy about starting in the dark and moving to the light, but I think they're stretching with that interpretation - it will be lost on most people.
ReplyDeleteAnd re: the twat thing, it's like the FedEx logo - once someone points out that arrow to you, you can never un-see it.
Overall, not good.