Walmart Unveils First Rebranding in Years - Customers Left Scratching Their Heads
If you didn’t know better, you’d probably think it was a parody.
Seriously.
The ubiquitous supermarket chain Walmart turned heads this week with a ballyhooed redesign.
Announced on Monday, Walmart boasted about its “Updated Look and Feel,” while calling it “A Testament to Heritage and Innovation.”
In classic PR-speak, the retail titan noted: “Walmart is excited to announce a comprehensive brand refresh that reflects its evolution as a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel retailer.”
Now, in fairness to the confused, Walmart’s boastful descriptions certainly sound like a massive overhaul.
Here are the bullet points rattled off by the chain:
- “The wordmark is inspired by Sam Walton’s classic trucker hat and brought to life with a modern, custom font that differentiates Walmart from the crowd.”
- “The spark exudes the energy of Walmart and remains a beacon that guides customers through all facets of the Walmart experience.”
- “The color palette — True Blue and Spark Yellow — leans on the retailer’s most recognizable tones and its heritage of blue, while ushering in new updates to keep the brand fresh.”
- “The tone is relatable, approachable and representative of the millions of customers that shop with Walmart, whether conveyed through its brand voice, illustrations or photography.”
“Sam Walton’s classic trucker hat”? “The spark”? “True Blue and Spark Yellow”?
That all sounded great, but in actual application?
Social media was less than impressed with this ballyhooed rebrand.
Walmart has rebranded their logo pic.twitter.com/4OMSid7zcv
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) January 13, 2025
BREAKING: Walmart drops first brand redesign since 2008 $WMT #Walmart pic.twitter.com/vyYYRZQwvV
— Bullish Chart (@bullishchart) January 13, 2025
One X user blasted the tweak as the “dumbest logo rebranding I’ve ever seen,” adding “I’d love to know how much that cost.” (More on that shortly.)
The dumbest logo rebranding I’ve ever seen. Hey @Walmart, I’d love to know how much that cost. 👎🤣 https://t.co/HyhiDcbzel
— Sports by KTwiz All Day (@KT23Sports) January 13, 2025
Former Daily Wire star Brett Cooper even chimed in on the rebrand, also opining on how much it cost.
and you know some NYC ad agency was paid millions to think up this dramatic change LOL
— Brett Cooper (@imbrettcooper) January 13, 2025
“[A]nd you know some NYC ad agency was paid millions to think up this dramatic change,” Cooper posted, along with an “LOL.”
Now, it’s at this point where Cooper does bring up a salient point, sort of.
While she’s clearly needling Walmart and “some NYC ad agency,” the truth of the matter is that … spending “millions” kind of worked.
The NFL and college football playoffs are both in effect. President-elect Donald Trump is just days away from being inaugurated. Half of America is on fire while the other half is frozen solid.
And yet swathes of the social discourse is about Walmart’s — admittedly derided — logo change.
Is that sort of ridicule and mindshare worth millions?
For a near-trillion dollar company like Walmart, probably.
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