Winnipeg Jets Release Logo

[Lee.]

For a polite country with no national identity beyond lumberjacks and outdoorsmen, we sure like to complain a lot.

[pcgd]

For a polite country with no national identity beyond lumberjacks and outdoorsmen, we sure like to complain a lot.

Red, White, but never Blue eh?

[Corvus]

For a polite country with no national identity beyond lumberjacks and outdoorsmen, we sure like to complain a lot.

We are super passive-aggressive as a country.

[bleuet]

Canadians:

"We got Winnipeg back! Yay!

"Wait, the plane in the logo may NOT be 100% canadian!"

"BOOOOOOO! Send this junk team back to those american a**holes!"

Do you feel okay?

You did not see the ;-) after my post?

[Lights Out]

Canada got Winnipeg back? News to me - how long was it annexed by the US?

[IceCap]

Hard to tell, no one noticed

[DEAD!]

Canada got Winnipeg back? News to me - how long was it annexed by the US?

Originally, the Red River swallowed the city whole and when Lake Winnipeg rejected it, it had to force it upstream to Fargo, and when it rejected it, they dumped it back to its original site.

[The_Admiral]

I'm not trying to be a crap disturber here, honest question because I just don't know: if Winnipeg is such an Air Force town, why didn't the 72-96 Jets ever make any connections to the Air Force? Was that presence not always there like it is now? Did it just never occur to them to reach out to the RCAF for some sort of tie-in? Why weren't there even false etymologies of the nickname rooted in Winnipeg aviation instead of just "I dunno they felt like it"? I guess it amazes me that all this time the old Jets were sitting on a novel branding concept and settled for writing "Winnipeg Jets" or "Jets Winnipeg" on Rangers hand-me-downs or perfunctory generic designs.

[Gothamite]

Branding then was not what it is now.

It might have even been seen as crass at the time, the notion that a sports club would piggyback on the military's name and/or reputation.

San Diego has been a military town for a long time, but that's not been reflected in the city's sports teams until it was shoehorned in recently. The Norfolk Admirals are, I believe, a relatively new franchise and the Milwaukee Admirals weren't named after the Navy but a line of appliances.

[rams80]

Branding then was not what it is now.

It might have even been seen as crass at the time, the notion that a sports club would piggyback on the military's name and/or reputation.

San Diego has been a military town for a long time, but that's not been reflected in the city's sports teams until it was shoehorned in recently. The Norfolk Admirals are, I believe, a relatively new franchise and the Milwaukee Admirals weren't named after the Navy but a line of appliances.

Norfolk's been around in various leagues as the Admirals since 1989. Of course, that depends on your definition of "relatively" as well.

[Gothamite]

I'd say 1989 was right around the rise of marketing and cross-promotion.

Had the Jets stayed in Wiinipeg past 1996, they might have tried a military tie-in by now. Heck, the Moose did.

[cornettored]

Canada got Winnipeg back? News to me - how long was it annexed by the US?

In the Fallout universe we do get Canada and shoot some maple loving canuckleheads before being blown to a nuclear hell 66 years from now.

[Crash]

Canada got Winnipeg back? News to me - how long was it annexed by the US?

The reason the border is the 49th parallel, rather than the nice, round 50th parallel, is Winnipeg, believe it or not. The Canadians were keen on keeping it.

[Evil Doctor]

I'm not trying to be a crap disturber here, honest question because I just don't know: if Winnipeg is such an Air Force town, why didn't the 72-96 Jets ever make any connections to the Air Force? Was that presence not always there like it is now? Did it just never occur to them to reach out to the RCAF for some sort of tie-in? Why weren't there even false etymologies of the nickname rooted in Winnipeg aviation instead of just "I dunno they felt like it"? I guess it amazes me that all this time the old Jets were sitting on a novel branding concept and settled for writing "Winnipeg Jets" or "Jets Winnipeg" on Rangers hand-me-downs or perfunctory generic designs.

Honestly, thanks partially to Al-Qaeda, there has been a sea change in Canadian attitude towards the military. Prior to 2001, it was considered almost taboo to honour our military in any meaningful way.

[Frankie]

I'm not trying to be a crap disturber here, honest question because I just don't know: if Winnipeg is such an Air Force town, why didn't the 72-96 Jets ever make any connections to the Air Force? Was that presence not always there like it is now? Did it just never occur to them to reach out to the RCAF for some sort of tie-in? Why weren't there even false etymologies of the nickname rooted in Winnipeg aviation instead of just "I dunno they felt like it"? I guess it amazes me that all this time the old Jets were sitting on a novel branding concept and settled for writing "Winnipeg Jets" or "Jets Winnipeg" on Rangers hand-me-downs or perfunctory generic designs.

Honestly, thanks partially to Al-Qaeda, there has been a sea change in Canadian attitude towards the military. Prior to 2001, it was considered almost taboo to honour our military in any meaningful way.

I believe this as well. I remember in junior and high school (pre-2001), the military was always seen as a bit of a joke and had more of a peacekeeping role than any sort of combat function. I think since 2001, that attitude has definitely changed. Canadians has had an active role in Afghanistan since 2002, and given that we are still there a decade later, the way the military is viewed is much much different.

[nash61]

I saw a guy here in Hamilton wearing the same Jets shirt that was leaked. Someone's quick.

[andrewharrington]

Its so canadian to use a US designed McDonnell Douglas F-18 on the crest...

Why didnt they put a Avro Arrow instead?

Thanks Reebok for another desaster.

It's not an F-18. It has elements of four different fighter jets, used by the US, Canada and Russia, but illustrates none of them precisely. It's just an artists rendering. The Arrow would have been too bland a shape to make it effective. I'm not in love with this, especially the pointy tail end, but it's by no means a disaster, just not as good as it could have been.

It's a stylized and simplified CF-18.

I'll go backwards through these quotes:

rams80: You are correct. It is a very stylized CF-18 silhouette.

vman: See above. The inspiration for the silhouette came from one aircraft: the CF-18. At no point were any aircraft used exclusively by the U.S. or Russia used as inspiration for this silhouette. There were other aircraft explored instead of the CF-18, but this particular silhouette is based solely on the CF-18. The reason it doesn't exactly resemble the CF-18 is so that the logo doesn't become so quickly dated. The F/A-18 was designed in the 1970s, and as such, is already a bit dated as far as jet silhouettes go.

bleujet: Yes, the CF-18 was designed in the U.S., but the Canadian Forces purchased this aircraft and it has been an integral part of the Canadian Forces since 1982. It is one of the longest serving fighters in the history of Canadian military aviation.

This isn't 'another disater' from Reebok. Of course the designers looked at using Avro's CF-105 Arrow. How could you not latch on to Canada's most famous aircraft for a team called 'Jets?' In fact, I'd say 90% of the exploration involved the CF-105 Arrow. Only in the very early and very late stages of the process did other aircraft even come into the mix. The team ownership ultimately chose which jet would be featured in the logo, not Reebok.

In addition the the CF-18 and the CF-105, the designers looked at the CF-5 and the F-35. The CF-5 was a tiny, single-engine, lightweight fighter that served from 1968 until 1995. A very dated silhouette and not nearly as famous with the public as the Arrow, or even the CF-18, in my opinion. The F-35 is an ultra-modern, single-engine advanced fighter that the Canadian Forces has currently pegged to eventually replace the CF-18. The thought here was using the future as reference, there's always the possibility that something could go wrong and plans might change. What if the purchase of the F-35s is canceled, for instance?

I'm surprised no one has brought up the fact that even though CFB Winnipeg is one of the Canadian Forces largest bases, it houses transport, utility and training squadrons. There are zero fighter squadrons housed there as far as I know. Not that it mak

[rams80]

I'm surprised no one has brought up the fact that even though CFB Winnipeg is one of the Canadian Forces largest bases, it houses transport, utility and training squadrons. There are zero fighter squadrons housed there as far as I know. Not that it mak

Air Command is headquartered there, as is Canada's contribution to NORAD. So if fighters aren't based there, they still get orders from there.

[Northender]

I think the team was originally named the Jets because of the following:

Originally headquartered in Winnipeg, which was also the site of the national maintenance base, the federal government moved the headquarters to Montreal in 1949; the maintenance base later also moved east. With the development of the ReserVec in 1953, TCA became the first airline in the world to use a computer reservation system with remote terminals.[10][11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada

[andrewharrington]

I think the team was originally named the Jets because of the following:

Originally headquartered in Winnipeg, which was also the site of the national maintenance base, the federal government moved the headquarters to Montreal in 1949; the maintenance base later also moved east. With the development of the ReserVec in 1953, TCA became the first airline in the world to use a computer reservation system with remote terminals.[10][11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada

You both are correct. It just strikes me as odd that, since Winnipeg's association with fighter jets is historical, the choice was made to include a current aircraft in the logo. I would be interested in hearing how they talked through all that amongst themselves.