Walmart has updated its logo for the first time in almost 20 years. The Internet has thoughts

On Monday, Walmart announced that it did presented a new logoas part of a “comprehensive brand refresh”.

The US retailer boasted in a press release that the new look – the first change since 2008 – reflects its evolution. In his online “brand center“Walmart praised the color palette (true blue and sparkling yellow), font (“everyday without”) and trademarked “spark” symbol, calling the latter a “beacon to guide customers.”

But some people online noticed something different about the new logo.

“It looks the same,” he wrote someone on Xone of many people from similar feelings.

“I can't believe someone paid for this.” sent another person.

“A complete overhaul has been long overdue and while some may feel uncomfortable with this radical change, the time has come,” he added. someone else joked.

Walmart is the world's largest retailerhiring some 1.6 million people in the USA and approx 100,000 people in Canada.

Its founder, Sam Walton, opened the first store in 1962 in Rogers, Arctic, and at the same time introduced his first logo: the word WALMART written in simple blue script, according to Walmart Museum.

According to Business expertWalmart introduced seven different logos before the latest one. This included moving the text from WALMART to WAL-MART, WAL*MART, and ultimately Walmart as we know it now: one word, lower case, no hyphen or asterisk.

In 2008, the company added a yellow “spark” that represents the “spark of inspiration” that, according to Walton, led Walton to create the first store. Walmart Museum.

In its announcement, Walmart said the updated sign is “inspired by Sam Walton's classic trucker hat.”

The update “demonstrates our growing capabilities and long-standing commitment to serving our current and future customers,” said William White, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Walmart US in Monday's press release.

“Significant differences”

Not all reactions to the not-so-new logo were negative. Some website design and marketingfor example, he called it a welcome “emergence,” while noting that it wouldn't make sense for Walmart to drastically change its recognizable logo.

“The logo itself is an example of simplicity done in an excellent way,” writes the editor of the website dedicated to design Creative block.

“While parts of the Internet are baffled by the 'subtle' changes, the great Walmart brand had no reason to completely change its logo, and the design team did an outstanding job of accentuating the best parts of the existing design to achieve the brand's goals.”

The changes can be difficult to see to the “unobservant eye,” he writes Fast Company website, explaining that the word Walmart has been redrawn, the spark is separated from the text, and the blue color is lighter.

“You could say it's subtle, but there are significant differences,” White is quoted as saying in a Fast Company article.

And as Forbes NotesWalmart “failed to gain more than $735 billion in value by throwing money away.” There was probably a professional team behind the update, even if the changes seem minor.

“From continuity to staying on top of current trends, there will be very good reasons behind the seemingly small change in Walmart's new logo.”

But that doesn't stop people from having fun online.

– Is this a joke? sent someone on X.

“Many people don't like the redesign of the Walmart logo, but if you were ever a girl in third grade, you can tell that the new logo is completely different – the old one is a sun and the new one is a flower,” wrote user X Kelley K.