The merger between NBC and Comcast was recently made official and they are now under the umbrella of NBCUniversal. This week, NBCUniversal unveiled a new logo design:
The new logo is already among my list of the worst logos I have seen. It looks more appropriate for an accounting firm than for an entertainment conglomerate.
Why is the logo so bad?
- It communicates nothing about the company and its brand, other than the word “NBC” and “Universal”.
- The new logo is presented with “NBCU” in all caps together, perhaps attempting to create a new name “NBCU.” But NBCU is not a very good name, it ends in “see you” and it evokes “university” and education.
- In fact, there is some evidence that “NBCU” will be used as a brand name. See recent USPTO trademark filing for HEALTHY AT NBCU.
- It is purple, a color that was not a significant part of the prior NBC logos and that communicates little excitement or warmth. In fact, if you look at all the associated logos on the nbcuni.com web page screenshot above, only one contains purple.
- The new logo makes the company look boring, old fashion and afraid to take risks – not a company that is lively or has character or history, or is meant to entertain people.
- Most significantly, it drops the famed NBC peacock from the design. The peacock is one of the best known and iconic logos of the last half century. See Wikipedia article on history of the logo here.
Why discard the iconic and well known peacock? In my opinion, it was a terrible decision by Comcast and NBCUniversal executives. Will they drop the fames “chimes” from NBC next? In 1950, the chimes were the first sound trademark registered by the USPTO (at the time, for NBC Radio).
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
