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Starbucks

Rebrand · 2011

For its 40th anniversary Starbucks took the words Starbucks Coffee and the black ring off its badge, leaving the green siren on her own.

Starbucks logo before and after

Starbucks logo before 2011 rebrandStarbucks logo before 2011 rebrand

BeforeUntil 2011

Logo: Starbucks. Source: starbucks.com (archived)

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Starbucks new logo 2011Starbucks new logo 2011

AfterSince 2011

Logo: Starbucks. Source: starbucks.com (archived)

DownloadLightSVG not availablePNGDisplay versions adapted by Rebrand Log

Key facts

Starbucks launched a new logo in 2011.

Brand
Starbucks
Launched
Source: about.starbucks.com
Studio
Not recordedAdd it
What changed
For its 40th anniversary Starbucks took the words Starbucks Coffee and the black ring off its badge, leaving the green siren on her own.
Sources
about.starbucks.com, materials.proxyvote.com, reuters.com

Cite this Rebrand Log, "Starbucks new logo (2011)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/starbucks-2011/, last updated .

The Starbucks rebrand, explained

The siren goes back to 1971, when Terry Heckler drew the first Starbucks logo. According to the company's own history, Heckler merged it with the Il Giornale logo in 1987, when green replaced brown, and in 1992 the siren's face became the star. That badge, a green siren inside a black ring reading Starbucks Coffee, is the before logo here.

In 2011 the ring and the words were removed and the siren was enlarged to fill the circle, in a single green. Starbucks says the name is absent because its reach extends beyond coffee, and its siren "can surely stand on her own."

The 2010 annual report letter set out the reasoning: "This year, we will roll out our elegant new brand identity with an evolved logo that embraces our history while granting us more freedom and flexibility to think beyond coffee and even beyond our stores." Reuters reported that the change stirred anger among some customers. Starbucks itself dates the change only to 2011, so that is the date given here.

In short: The siren no longer needs to say her name.

By Rebrand Log Editorial · Updated · facts from the sources below

Quote

“This year, we will roll out our elegant new brand identity with an evolved logo that embraces our history while granting us more freedom and flexibility to think beyond coffee and even beyond our stores.”
Howard Schultz, Chairman, president and CEO, Starbucks (annual report letter) · materials.proxyvote.com

Press

Sources

  1. 1. about.starbucks.comhttps://about.starbucks.com/history/the-evolution-of-our-logo/
  2. 2. materials.proxyvote.comhttps://materials.proxyvote.com/Approved/855244/20110113/AR_76980/PDF/starbucks-ar2010_0004.pdf
  3. 3. reuters.comhttps://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7045Y920110105/
  4. 4. seattletimes.comhttps://www.seattletimes.com/business/updated-starbucks-logo-no-longer-says-coffee/