Wendy's Changes Logo for First Time Since 1983

[RedSox44]

I really like it. Fantastic update.

[AHcreative]

My girlfriend was showing me this the other day and I knew if I came here, you guys would be all over it. I really like it, I think it's a fantastic update to a rather dated logo.

I'm still a little iffy on the font, but the updated Wendy looks great.

[ninersdd]

Don't think anybody has mentioned this, but on the new girl, the mouth isn't completely covered with the black outline.

[JPDesign]

Neither is the neck, or the eye for that matter.

It's a stylistic thing. Keeps the facial features from getting too heavy.

[Silver_Star]

Image of what a remodeled store will look like:

Their marketing officer talks more including on the two different ad campaigns and the Wendy's "wave".

Why did you lose the 'Old Fashioned Hamburgers' part of the logo?

If you think about our brand, gosh, we certainly sell a lot of hamburgers and cheeseburgers, but we also are leaders in innovation in chicken, we’re leaders in salads. We felt we needed to reflect our product line of today and where we need to be in the future.

The 'Quality Is Our Recipe' tagline has been moved.

We feel that it’s an important value statement for our brand. We wanted to let that out of its cage, so to speak, and use it on our signage and our soft assets, like packaging. Now consumers are going to be able to see, it read it and engage in it, as opposed to having it high up and set apart.

Why are these all of these changes happening now?

Look around. Chipotle, Panera, Five Guys — this is the new standard. They’re doing super jobs, but they have the advantage of coming in and being able to build new spaces and new concepts from scratch. We can’t stay stagnant in that environment. We have to continue to evolve our brand and grow our brand.

Our consumers have a different picture of what they expect. We have to leap frog now. It’s not just about catching up, because everyone else is moving forward. You grow brands to be viable not for a quarter, but for years.

Finally, they did something right!!!

[andrewharrington]

The font on the new is generic as it gets.

Um... what? No, Helvetica would be "generic". Arial would be "generic". This is decidedly not "generic".

It almost gets lost in a sea of quick-serve food chains and other restaurants, doesn't it? I'd say yes. It'll take them a while to win back that recognition. As dated as their logo and architecture was, it was very recognizable in the industry. Now it's Panera with a Wendy logo instead of a girl with bread. It's Qdoba with a Wendy logo instead of a cactus. Even beyond restaurants, the friendly handwriting script is such a ubiquitous trend of the last decade, I'd tend to say it is just as generic as Helvetica or Arial would be perceved. Typography like this no longer stands out in a specific way, so in that sense, it is generic.

Looking at the photo above, I think it looks great, but it doesn't look like a Wendy's without the signage. It looks more like a Chipotle. Of course there's something to be said about wanting a fresh start, but Wendy's has made up so much ground in the quick-serve indsutry over the past decade with their classic identity, it's seems strange to blow it up now.

[winters in buffalo]

You say first time since 1983, but really this is the first major change for the logo.

I still see the '78 logo on the side of one of the Wendy's near work.

[Billy B]

The font on the new is generic as it gets.

Um... what? No, Helvetica would be "generic". Arial would be "generic". This is decidedly not "generic".

It almost gets lost in a sea of quick-serve food chains and other restaurants, doesn't it? I'd say yes. It'll take them a while to win back that recognition. As dated as their logo and architecture was, it was very recognizable in the industry. Now it's Panera with a Wendy logo instead of a girl with bread. It's Qdoba with a Wendy logo instead of a cactus. Even beyond restaurants, the friendly handwriting script is such a ubiquitous trend of the last decade, I'd tend to say it is just as generic as Helvetica or Arial would be perceved. Typography like this no longer stands out in a specific way, so in that sense, it is generic.

Looking at the photo above, I think it looks great, but it doesn't look like a Wendy's without the signage. It looks more like a Chipotle. Of course there's something to be said about wanting a fresh start, but Wendy's has made up so much ground in the quick-serve indsutry over the past decade with their classic identity, it's seems strange to blow it up now.

I think what you see as a criticism of the new identity is a success in Wendy's books. There are a lot more people here to associate the old Wendy's script with the restaurant than I thought there would be. When I think of Wendy's, the girl is the first thing that comes to mind. That's got to be true for a lot of other people too. Wendy's seems to think that the girl is strong enough of a brand to stand on its own and I would agree with that. They're clearly trying to put themselves in the group of restaurants that Panera, Qdoba, etc. are in and designing their restaurants to look similar to those is part of the process. It'll take some time to see if their new strategy turns out to be successful, but I think they did a good job in what they were trying to accomplish.

[RETROJR79]

I wonder if we're going to see the new Wendy logo on Sunday Might Football

[The_Admiral]

Image of what a remodeled store will look like:

YEAH NEUTRAFACE ERRWHERE

I don't mind the update. It's pretty good. I mean, let's be frank, walking into a Wendy's is like walking into 1990. They're always dark and beige-y and have those chintzy "solarium" windows. They had to do something, but it's going to take a while to reach the Panera/Chipotle tier of upscale fast food. Wendy's is probably always just gonna be Wendy's to me.

[MrAstrodome]

Love the girl, iffy on the font. It will be a lot of getting used to next year.

[Cosmic]

The font on the new is generic as it gets.

Um... what? No, Helvetica would be "generic". Arial would be "generic". This is decidedly not "generic".

It almost gets lost in a sea of quick-serve food chains and other restaurants, doesn't it? I'd say yes. It'll take them a while to win back that recognition. As dated as their logo and architecture was, it was very recognizable in the industry. Now it's Panera with a Wendy logo instead of a girl with bread. It's Qdoba with a Wendy logo instead of a cactus. Even beyond restaurants, the friendly handwriting script is such a ubiquitous trend of the last decade, I'd tend to say it is just as generic as Helvetica or Arial would be perceved. Typography like this no longer stands out in a specific way, so in that sense, it is generic.

Looking at the photo above, I think it looks great, but it doesn't look like a Wendy's without the signage. It looks more like a Chipotle. Of course there's something to be said about wanting a fresh start, but Wendy's has made up so much ground in the quick-serve indsutry over the past decade with their classic identity, it's seems strange to blow it up now.

This type of script has been popular, no doubt, but I don't think ANY design trend has been as big as the Helvetica/Arial simple design movement.

[goforbroke]

Yellow and Red is so McDonalds that I'm suprised it took them this look to drop the yellow. Not that I ever confused a Wendys sign for a McDonalds sign from a distance, but I understand wanting to move away from that color combo. Having said that, Red and White is so EVERYTHING ELSE - KFC, Five Guys, Ruby Tuesdays, Target and so many other chain restuarants/generic businesses u'd see along the road that it seems to defeat the purpose. I feel like they could have went with Red and Black or maybe went more with the Pale Blue in the logo ... idk something else besides red and white.

I also think the fun script doesn't really mesh well with their marketing. I always thought they positioned themselves as slightly more refined fast food. Better quality incredients taste a little bit overpriced. So, to me the fun script, while nice, doesnt really go with their brand. Old Western I agree is outdated at this point and also doesnt fit. I think they should have went with a serifed, but slightly less Western wordmark. I simple Upgrade like a take on Rockwell or something like that.

[BrandMooreArt]

The font on the new is generic as it gets.

Um... what? No, Helvetica would be "generic". Arial would be "generic". This is decidedly not "generic".

It almost gets lost in a sea of quick-serve food chains and other restaurants, doesn't it? I'd say yes. It'll take them a while to win back that recognition. As dated as their logo and architecture was, it was very recognizable in the industry. Now it's Panera with a Wendy logo instead of a girl with bread. It's Qdoba with a Wendy logo instead of a cactus. Even beyond restaurants, the friendly handwriting script is such a ubiquitous trend of the last decade, I'd tend to say it is just as generic as Helvetica or Arial would be perceved. Typography like this no longer stands out in a specific way, so in that sense, it is generic.

Looking at the photo above, I think it looks great, but it doesn't look like a Wendy's without the signage. It looks more like a Chipotle. Of course there's something to be said about wanting a fresh start, but Wendy's has made up so much ground in the quick-serve indsutry over the past decade with their classic identity, it's seems strange to blow it up now.

I think what you see as a criticism of the new identity is a success in Wendy's books. There are a lot more people here to associate the old Wendy's script with the restaurant than I thought there would be. When I think of Wendy's, the girl is the first thing that comes to mind. That's got to be true for a lot of other people too. Wendy's seems to think that the girl is strong enough of a brand to stand on its own and I would agree with that. They're clearly trying to put themselves in the group of restaurants that Panera, Qdoba, etc. are in and designing their restaurants to look similar to those is part of the process. It'll take some time to see if their new strategy turns out to be successful, but I think they did a good job in what they were trying to accomplish.

yea they don;t look anything like an "old fashioned hamburger" place and the script feels quite generic, but this is the look they were going for. they wanted their identity to reflect the new brand positioning and they got it.

[Magnum]

Looks very ... 21st century-like.

I've always preferred the old font because it was immediately distinguishable. I guess it'll take some adjusting now.

[BrandMooreArt]

was thinking about this more today and although the identity aligns well with the new brand direction, its the brand direction i have a problem with here. im not sure if they have changed anything about their menu or not, but you know what Chipotle, Moes, 5 Guys, etc have in common besides an aesthetic? its a menu thats a hell of a lot healthier than regular fast food joints. and the prices are justified by that. Wendy's isnt a brand thats on that level, they sell 99cent heart attacks like McDonadls, Burger Kings, and Arbys. thats the problem

[BadSeed84]

was thinking about this more today and although the identity aligns well with the new brand direction, its the brand direction i have a problem with here. im not sure if they have changed anything about their menu or not, but you know what Chipotle, Moes, 5 Guys, etc have in common besides an aesthetic? its a menu thats a hell of a lot healthier than regular fast food joints. and the prices are justified by that. Wendy's isnt a brand thats on that level, they sell 99cent heart attacks like McDonadls, Burger Kings, and Arbys. thats the problem

lmao, I almost wanna spit my drink out thats so laughable.

[BrandMooreArt]

was thinking about this more today and although the identity aligns well with the new brand direction, its the brand direction i have a problem with here. im not sure if they have changed anything about their menu or not, but you know what Chipotle, Moes, 5 Guys, etc have in common besides an aesthetic? its a menu thats a hell of a lot healthier than regular fast food joints. and the prices are justified by that. Wendy's isnt a brand thats on that level, they sell 99cent heart attacks like McDonadls, Burger Kings, and Arbys. thats the problem

lmao, I almost wanna spit my drink out thats so laughable.

"hell of a lot" is probably an exaggeration but i have no worries about eating their chicken and burgers. Wendys on the other hand, grosses me out at the thought

[Buster]

Image of what a remodeled store will look like:

Their marketing officer talks more including on the two different ad campaigns and the Wendy's "wave".

Why did you lose the 'Old Fashioned Hamburgers' part of the logo?

If you think about our brand, gosh, we certainly sell a lot of hamburgers and cheeseburgers, but we also are leaders in innovation in chicken, we’re leaders in salads. We felt we needed to reflect our product line of today and where we need to be in the future.

The 'Quality Is Our Recipe' tagline has been moved.

We feel that it’s an important value statement for our brand. We wanted to let that out of its cage, so to speak, and use it on our signage and our soft assets, like packaging. Now consumers are going to be able to see, it read it and engage in it, as opposed to having it high up and set apart.

Why are these all of these changes happening now?

Look around. Chipotle, Panera, Five Guys — this is the new standard. They’re doing super jobs, but they have the advantage of coming in and being able to build new spaces and new concepts from scratch. We can’t stay stagnant in that environment. We have to continue to evolve our brand and grow our brand.

Our consumers have a different picture of what they expect. We have to leap frog now. It’s not just about catching up, because everyone else is moving forward. You grow brands to be viable not for a quarter, but for years.

Looks too much like a Pizza Hut to me. Generic.

[chuckymack]

When you try to appeal to everybody, you appeal to nobody.