Wal*Mart has a new logo

I never gave all that much thought to the Wal-Mart logo before I saw a news item this morning announcing the change. But when I think of the the (old) logo (Wal-pointy-5-sided-star-Mart), the "image" the see in my mind's eye is "stodgy". All upper-case, angular, in-your-face letters seem - well - stodgy... old-fashioned... Like something you'd see on one of those completely 'huh?' reports that a green screen application might spit out over REAMS and REAMS of paper - printed on a dot-matrix printer, going "Eeeee ee e ee eeeee e eeee ee eee . Eeeeee" (that's a line break), over and over and OVER again. You hear it, don't you?

Now, the new logo. It is supposed to convey an environmentally friendly image. Does it? Take a look. I definitely agree with the friendly part. Something about the mix of lower-and-upper case letters, along with the rounded font itself certainly makes me think of a friendly soul. And I like the blue (now wait a minute tho.... Is it just me, or does the type face and color not remind you of the MetLife logo? (and yes, Guilty as charged, I work for MetLife; but this is solely MY opinion)). Judge for yourself.

I'm not so sure about the sunburst tho. It sorta reminds me of the "poof!" illustration that goes with a fairy making something disappear. "Poof!" There goes the pumpkin. "Poof", there go the mice... Or a light being turned OFF, may be (the center, IMHO should have been yellow if the bulb was just turned ON). A windmill and thus more green - um - yellow - mayyyy be.... a flower though? Nah, I don't see it - I just don't... A few more "petals" might have done it perhaps? Or more petal-like thingys in the sunburst? The yellow thingy is too angular to look like a flower, me thinks... The sun, did you say? Well, why not a sunny yellow then? What's with the mango-colored sun???


My verdict: 3.5* out of 6
Here is what I factored in:

1. Cost of the change ($$$ they must have paid someone to think this up + $$$ they'll have to spend to roll out the change)
2. Objective of the change (the intended "environmentally friendly" message Mr. Scott would like to impart)
3. Impact on my willingness to spend more $$$ at Wal-Mart (Zero change to my spending patterns)

Hmmmm... I give the new logo a 3.5/ 6 stars. What say you, fellow Target Audience?