Logos are important to advertising because it differentiates a company from another company. A good logo will make people remember or recognize your company; thusly, causing your company to become more popular. Smart huh? They are so big in our popular culture that there is a Board Game and an app about the identification of Logos.
So what are the most recognizable logos for we Americans?
10. MTV
MTV (what used to be known as Music Television launched in 1981 and due to its popularity throughout the years has become a mainstay in popular culture. Even if you don’t watch MTV, you know what it is.
9. Starbucks
I don’t want to admit it but Starbucks is a phenomenon. There are over 12,000 Starbucks stores in the United States and an additional 10,000 across the globe. I would say that that whether you drink coffee or not; that’s pretty outstanding.
8. Google
So, google’s logo is quite literally the name of the company but there probably isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t use Google. The internet search engine has become an action and a verb: “Google it” or “I googled”.
7. Walmart
So America has been doing business with Walmart since 1962 and we sadly can’t live without them. The world’s largest company, based on revenue, has over 11,000 stores in over 28 countries allowing Walmart to be easily recognized by a trailer park resident anywhere in the world.
6. Nike
The American athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories company that has excess revenues of over $24 billion dollars a year and employees over 44,000 people worldwide and we buy an average of 120 million shoes a year. That makes my couple of pair of Air Max’s seem pretty inconsequential.
5. Coca-Cola
I could go without being exaggerative that Coca-Cola is the king of advertising. Since their inception in 1886, Coca-Cola brand has had an incredible way of marketing and advertising their product. From “Drink Coca-Cola and enjoy it in 1886 to 2016’s “Taste the Feeling”, we know that you “can’t beat the real thing!” Get it…anyways. Coca-Cola is so recognizable that sometimes some people ask ‘do you want a coke’ and are just referring to sodas in general. But ‘the only thing like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola itself’ or so they say.
4. Ford
“Have you driven a Ford lately?” Why yes, yes I have. And so have a lot of us, since Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. The automobile maker’s logo is only part of what Henry Ford added to the world. Ford’s assembly line methods changed manufacturing forever and the Blue Oval has been driven into the hearts and minds of Americans ever since.
3. Pepsi
Introduced originally as “Brad’s Drink” in New Bern, North Carolina, US, in 1893 but renamed to Pepsi Cola in 1898 (named after the digestive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts which were used in the drink’s recipe). Pepsi-Cola or more commonly known as Pepsi survived the great depression and the Pepsi symbol is so recognizable that we can’t deny its pop culture significance.
2. McDonalds
The world’s largest hamburger fast food chain serves around 68 million customers a day in 119 countries. McDonalds started slinging food since the 40s and the Golden Arches are known the world over as the place to get the best french fries in the world. Or the place with the creepy clown mascot that comes up to kids in their backyard and offers them food on commercials. No matter how creepy the mascot, since 1962 the Golden Arches or “double-arched” M symbol has been a beacon in the distance for many a hungry driver. God knows I’ve eaten there enough.
1. Apple
So we have iPods, iPads, MacBooks, iPhones, Apple TVs…and God knows what else…Apple is everywhere! The Apple symbol is everywhere. Whether its on the back of your friends car (because he got the decal for free with his iPod), the tattoo on my best friend’s leg, or the back of your iPhone; we know what the symbol is as soon as it is in our peripheral. As I type upon this MacBook Air and see the glow of my wife’s iPhone across the room, I think how different a place that this world might be if not for Apple. Specifically the symbol for an apple with a bite taken out of it would mean a WHOLE different thing.
So do you agree with my list? What would you have added?
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