Logo Or No Go? When Campaign Logos Look A Little Too Familiar
The "E" in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's newly unveiled presidential logo is a stylized American flag — as it turns out, one that looks remarkably similar to the logo for America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses.
The company's CEO, Reade Fahs, said he doesn't mind but also that it's unlikely the governor hasn't seen the 18-year-old logo. "It's on hundreds of stores across the country. So assuming he's got good vision, he probably would have spotted it in his campaign travels. And we have lots of stores in Wisconsin too."
Look familiar? @Americas_Best says it's not endorsing @ScottWalker despite similarity in logos http://t.co/r3yn3NmCnH pic.twitter.com/5cLd4QP2ma
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 13, 2015
And there's one good reason Fahs is not angry about it — he says it's been "sure good for our business."
"Ever since the controversy erupted our online eye exam bookings have hit record levels," he said. But unlike Walker, "we're a one-issue company. Our one issue is ultra low-cost eyeglasses and eye exams and contact lenses," he said.
A Walker spokesman said the logo was settled on after an exhaustive process that distilled who Walker is and what he stands for. "There are thousands and thousands of people who use the American flag as branding," Kirsten Kukowski told NPR.
It's been dubbed #logogate on social media, where even America's Best had fun with it:
.@ScottWalker sure TRUMPed us by "borrowing" our logo. #logogate
— America's Best (@Americas_Best) July 13, 2015
But Walker is not the only candidate with a #logogate this season. Here are some others:
Democrat Hillary Clinton was slammed for her logo, which contains a red arrow, pointing right. Some said it looked like part of the FedEx logo:
Both FedEx and Hillary Clinton has forward facing arrows in their logos, but FedEx is more subtle. pic.twitter.com/lNsuPcDsnb
— John Campbell (@whoisjohngalt) April 14, 2015
Rick Perry's branding has been said to resemble that of Popeye's Chicken:
Anyone else see the similarity? #Perry #Popeyes pic.twitter.com/3pk10IRvSH
— Ed Demaria (@Eddie_Dynamite) June 4, 2015
And ahead of the 2008 election, some suggested then-candidate Barack Obama's logo looked like Pepsi's logo. Pepsi then tweaked its logo, earning criticism that it had used the Obama campaign's logo as inspiration for its own marketing.
"I'm not sure who followed whom," Frank Cooper, PepsiCo's vice president for brands, said in 2009. "But Barack, President Obama was relatively unknown a few years ago ... this logo he developed is probably about a year and a half old. We've been around for a long time."
9(MDE1MTIxMDg0MDE0MDQ3NTY3MzkzMzY1NA001))
Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
These days, presidential campaigns don't just have a signature song and a snappy slogan - the serious campaigns also have logos.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
But they don't always go over well. Democrat Hillary Clinton was slammed for her logo, which contains a red arrow pointing right.
SIEGEL: Jeb Bush's emblem is merely his first name, Jeb, with an exclamation point, but without the last name that he shares with his former president brother.
CORNISH: Yet only one campaign has stirred up a controversy big enough to be dubbed logogate.
SIEGEL: When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker officially launched his campaign this week, more than a few people thought his insignia looked familiar, including Reade Fahs, CEO of America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses.
READE FAHS: Oh, it has served us well for the past 18 years. It's on hundreds of stores across the country, so assuming he's got good vision, he probably would've spotted it in his campaign travels - and we have lots of stores in Wisconsin, too.
CORNISH: The E in Walker, made to look like a stylized American flag, is identical to the E in the America's Best logo. A Walker spokesperson says the logo was settled on after an exhaustive process distilled who Governor Walker is and what he stands for.
SIEGEL: For his part, Fahs says he's happy for Governor Walker to use his company's logo.
FAHS: Ever since the controversy erupted, our online eye exam bookings at americasbest.com have just hit record levels, so his choice of our logo sure has been good for our business. But we're a one-issue company. We're nonpartisan. Our one issue is ultra low-cost eyeglasses and eye exams and contact lenses. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad